


Free Fall

by grimdarkpixels



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Accidental Voyeurism, Another Feelings Realization, Cliffhangers, Connor Cameo, Dark Past, Eventual Smut, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Feelings Realization, Finger Sucking, First Kiss, Love Confessions, M/M, Masturbation, Mental Link, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Multiple Orgasms, Mutual Masturbation, Mutual Pining, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Oral Sex, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Pining, Power Bottom Simon (Detroit: Become Human), Protective Markus (Detroit: Become Human), SO MUCH FOR BEING LOWKEY GCFYUHV, Sharing Body Heat, Sharing a Bed, Skydiving, Slow Burn, Spooning, Telepathy, Top Markus (Detroit: Become Human), Whump, fuck man idk its late and im losing my mind over this shit, gay robot falls in love w robojesus. more at 11, how the fuck do you tag that thing androids do w the skinless hands?, i call it "improving the timeline because theres no fucking way the revolution happens in a week", markus is horny too but hes lowkey about it, north the passive-aggressive wingwoman, not the fun kind the Oh Fuck Its The Cops kind, oof - Freeform, poorly written action, ps i just learned that word and its stupid i love it, rated for chapter 7, remember the parachute scene in awo?? its basically that but like way gayer, simon can and will fuck someone up if he has to, simon is like 5 seconds away from bsod-ing at any given moment, the hand thing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-16
Updated: 2018-08-09
Packaged: 2019-06-11 09:27:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 23,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15312501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grimdarkpixels/pseuds/grimdarkpixels
Summary: Okay. So the past half hour had been extremely eventful. Markus made a speech that would change society as they knew it, Simon got shot, Simon almost got left behind or killed by the man he fell in love with, Simon fell in love with the leader of thefucking revolution,and now they were both stuck on the streets trying to escape the cops together.How long could it possibly take them to get home?





	1. The Fall

Simon crashed to the ground almost as soon as Markus let him go. North slammed the door behind them and hacked the lock to buy the group time. Josh didn’t waste any time, rushing to get the parachutes out of the bag. Markus kneeled over Simon to assess his injuries.

“I can’t move my legs,” Simon admitted, looking up at him in worry.

“Okay, don’t worry! We’re gonna get you back,” Markus responded, already rattling his mind for a solution. They didn’t have enough time, and Simon couldn’t stand.

This was _not_ going how he had planned.

“They’re coming, Markus! We have to jump, now!” North exclaimed.

Simon’s eyes widened. Markus sighed in exasperation, standing up and walking over to Josh and North to figure out how to deal with Simon. Simon was pretty sure they were only talking to themselves, but he could make out what they were saying.

“He won’t be able to make the jump…” Markus sighed.

“If they find him, they’ll access his memory. They’ll know _everything,_ ” Josh said, his fast speech making it clear he was starting to panic.

“We can’t leave him behind,” North insisted. “We have to shoot him.”

“That’s murder! We can’t kill him, he’s one of us!” Josh hissed.

“Markus, it’s your call.” North looked at Markus expectantly.

Markus didn’t want to make this decision, but it seemed like there were only two options; leave him behind and risk the police accessing his memory, or kill him.

Or…

Markus kneeled in front of Simon again and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Simon, I’m going to pick you up. Hold onto me, alright?”

“Markus, what are you doing?!” North asked incredulously.

“The parachutes won’t hold both of you,” Josh declared, and even if he was right, it was clear that Markus had made up his mind.

“It’s better than just leaving him up here!” Markus responded, hoisting Simon to his feet again and moving Simon’s legs to wrap around his waist. Simon took the hint and used the remaining energy in his legs to keep them there while wrapping his arms around Markus’ shoulders and holding on for dear life.

Josh handed North and Markus their parachutes, the three of them refusing to waste any more time as they hurried to put them on. Markus fumbled a bit with Simon in the way, but managed to fasten it properly right as the security guards burst through the door.

“Over there!” One of the guards hollered. North, Josh and Markus took that as their cue to leave. Markus put his hands on Simon’s back to hold him in place and sprinted to the edge of the roof.

Simon’s heart was pounding, the wind and Markus’ rushed footsteps in his ears. Panic filled him entirely and his eyes screwed shut as Markus jumped over the railing and whatever Simon had instead of a stomach lurched as he felt himself falling and holding even tighter onto Markus.

He felt Markus’ hands leave his back for a few moments. Then his entire body jerked, followed up by the feeling of falling much more slowly than he just was. He cracked open one of his eyes and looked around, taking note of the opened parachute. The scenery of the city and the snow falling heavily around him made him feel something resembling sick, so he squeezed his eyes shut again and tried to regulate his simulated breathing.

“It’s alright,” Markus yelled. “Keep holding onto me as tight as you can, alright?”

Simon nodded and buried his face in Markus’ neck. His internal components felt like they were in knots. He tried not to focus on the feeling of falling. He let himself breathe in Markus’ scent; some odd combination of the slightly metallic scent most androids carried and something else Simon couldn’t identify. Paint? Yeah, he smelled a bit like paint. Simon wanted to ask Markus about that later. It calmed him down, at any rate.

Simon’s stomach was in loops, but he didn’t feel as uneasy anymore. He held onto Markus probably tighter than he needed to. He felt like if he was closer to Markus, he’d be safe, he’d have someone to fight for, someone he’d die for--

Wait, what? Was that really how Simon felt?

He looked up at Markus, taking in all his features and committing them to memory. His firm eyes, his subtly freckled cheeks, that stubble that was more prominent on him than it was on most other androids, his strong jawline that Simon wanted so badly to cover in kisses--

Simon closed his eyes again and gasped as the penny dropped.

Simon was in love with Markus.

Oh shit, Simon was in _love_ with _Markus._

OH SHIT, SIMON WAS IN LOVE WITH MARKUS.

And Markus was currently the only thing between him and a very deadly drop.

Simon prayed to rA9 that parachuting didn’t take long, because he really wasn’t sure how long he could emotionally withstand being this close in proximity to Markus now that he’d realised he respected him as more than a companion.

Markus and Simon descended faster than North and Josh due to their combined weight. Simon could hear North shouting, but couldn’t make out her words. It sounded important. Josh shouted something else in response, but he was also out of range.

“WHAT?” Markus yelled back to them, Simon felt him crane his neck to presumably look in their general direction.

“POLICE!” was all Simon could make out. He opened his eyes again and looked down to where he could see two policemen staring up at them. They climbed into their squad car and took off, following the direction of the wind.

“Shit,” Markus breathed.

Simon ran a quick scan of his surroundings. He and Markus were about 42 meters, or 140 feet, in the air and dropping fast. It was then that he realised he didn’t actually know where they were going to land. In the trees might be a softer landing, but there’s a good chance they’d be too tangled up to escape the cops. If they landed on more buildings there’s no way Simon would be able to get down in his condition.

Yeah, no, they really didn’t have any choice but to land on the street and pray it wasn’t occupied. The blizzard was starting to clear already, they wouldn’t have much cover.

“Simon, look out!”

Simon didn’t have time to process Markus’ words before they landed on an empty street. Markus hit the ground running for a few steps before Simon’s weight and the leftover momentum from their fall tripped him up and caused them both to tumble to the ground, Simon pinned beneath Markus.

As he felt his face burn, Simon started to think he might have preferred being left behind.

“Are you okay?” Markus asked, lifting himself so his weight wasn’t crushing Simon, but his arms and legs were on either side of him.

“I’m okay! I’m-I’m fine! I’m fine,” Simon stammered out, trying to wriggle out from the awkward position. His legs were still damaged and he couldn’t move them from their position around Markus’ waist. “Help.”

Markus took the hint and pushed Simon’s legs off him, allowing him to stand up, discard the parachute and help Simon to his feet. Simon’s condition had at least improved somewhat, as he could stand now, but his legs were locked up and he could barely move them. He leaned on Markus to stabilise himself as Josh landed and rushed over to them.

“The cops are coming. We’ve gotta move fast.”

“Simon can’t walk.”

“Carry him then!”

“No!” Simon spat out hurriedly. There wasn’t a chance in hell he could even think about Markus carrying him to Jericho without blowing a fuse, and that did nothing except cement how bad he had it for him. “No, I don’t want to slow you down.”

“Where’s North?” Markus asked.

“She landed on the next block,” Josh responded, looking over in the direction she landed.

“Go find her and get back to Jericho. We’ll meet you there.”

“What?!” Josh and Simon shrieked simultaneously.

“Go without us, Josh. If we don’t come back, lay low as long as you can.”

“Markus, that’s craz--”

 _“Josh!”_ Markus snapped, giving Josh an urgent glare.

Josh’s words died in his throat. He looked between Markus and Simon, conflicted.

“Don’t die on us.”

With that, Josh turned around and sprinted around the corner towards North. (The person, not the direction.)

Simon opened his mouth, but whatever he had to say was cut off by the sound of a police siren turning on far too close by for comfort.

“C’mon, let’s go,” Markus said, slinging one of Simon’s arms over his shoulder and his own arm over Simon’s, encouraging Simon to lean on him for support. They stumbled out of the street as fast as they could.

Okay. So the past half hour had been extremely eventful. Markus made a speech that would change society as they knew it, Simon got shot, Simon almost got left behind or killed by the man he fell in love with, Simon fell in love with the leader of the _fucking revolution,_ and now they were both stuck on the streets trying to escape the cops together.

How long could it possibly take them to get home?


	2. Pining

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Simon thinks for a second he can deal with the situation.
> 
> He very rapidly finds out he can't, in fact, deal with the situation.

It took them longer than it should to find somewhere safe and secluded to wait out the police. Simon’s condition was unstable, and even though it would be much faster if he let Markus carry him, Simon’s newfound feelings for the man made him feel too awkward to let him.

They ended up sneaking into a narrow alleyway between two seedy-looking buildings. Simon sat down by the wall behind a trash can while Markus crouched, keeping watch for the police. Minutes passed where the two of them listened to the wind and the occasional car passing, ducking down whenever a car looked too much like a squad car.

Before long, Markus turned around and sat down.

“I just saw it pass. We should be okay for a little while. What’s your system status?”

Simon glanced up at Markus out of the corner of his eye and looked down to his hands resting in his lap.

“According to the diagnostic I just ran, The hole in my chest isn’t fatal, as long as it doesn’t come into contact with temperatures below freezing,” Simon explained. “My thirium levels are lower than normal, but I’m not bleeding so much anymore. But...my legs are still practically nonfunctional. I can barely walk…” He trailed off, then sighed: “I’ll only slow you down, Markus. Go back without m--”

“ _No,_ Simon, don’t even start,” Markus interrupted him with a look that could kill.

~~If looks could kill, Markus would’ve killed Simon the moment they met, Simon thought.~~

“I didn’t carry you off that rooftop just so I could abandon you in the middle of the city. You’re too valuable for that,” he continued. “Look at me,” he said, gently cupping Simon’s chin and tipping his head to look up at him.

~~Simon prayed to every deity in existence Markus didn’t notice the way his face flushed.~~

“We’re both getting home, and I’m not gonna leave you behind no matter how many times you tell me to.”

Simon nodded faintly, taking in Markus’ words and the sharp, authoritative tone he was speaking in. He decided he liked it when Markus was firm with him. Maybe a little too much.

~~He wondered how rough he’d be if he had Simon beneath him, trailing kisses down his stomach until--~~

_O-KAY,_ enough of that! Love was bad enough, but lust would make this experience _intolerable_. Simon snuffed out that train of thought before it could spiral out of control and nodded more strongly as Markus’ hand fell from his chin. Markus nodded back and stood up, offering his hand to help Simon up. Simon made an effort to grab his wrist instead of his hand as he pulled himself up, falling against the wall momentarily.

“What’s your plan, then?” Simon asked as he adjusted his stance so he could stand freely.

“Well, first of all, we have to change out of these uniforms. We stand out too much, and the android markers are impossible to remove. We also need to find a way to stabilise your condition, at least until we can get back to Jericho,” Markus spoke confidently, like he’d already planned this all out, even though Simon knew that wasn’t true. “Probably the best way to do that is to find something we can use as a cauterizer. Not sure where we’ll find something out here, though…”

“I mean, we normally just use a metal rod and a fire pit…” Simon shrugged.

Markus nodded. “That shouldn't be impossible to find. I'd rather find a more effective way, but the longer we're out here, the more likely it is we'll be caught.”

“Markus, Jericho is on the other side of the city and Josh has the bus money. The odds aren't exactly in our favor.”

“Not unless we find human clothes.” Markus closed his eyes and paused. “A thrift store has some donation bins set up not too far from here. Considering the state of this part of town, they’re probably not protected. With any luck, we’ll find something there.”

Simon had no strength (or want) to argue. He nodded and Markus led him through to the other side of the alleyway, behind the buildings on the empty road.

***

Simon leaned on the donation bin and kept watch while Markus rummaged through the garbage surrounding them.

It almost baffled Simon how many people refused to read the big yellow signs reading “CLOTHES ONLY - NO DUMPING” on all sides of both bins, but seeing as people were dumping any old junk they couldn't stand to keep in their own house anymore, a number of clothes were in the mix as well, meaning they didn't have to go to the effort of loudly breaking locks.

Whatever kept them out of harms way was fine by him.

Simon looked up to the horizon. The sun was already starting to set, the snowfall finally over. The odds of them getting back to Jericho today were dwindling. A pop-up appeared in Simon’s vision: **FIND A SAFE PLACE FOR THE NIGHT.**

“We need to find somewhere safe. We're not getting back tonight,” Simon informed Markus, looking down at where the man currently had his arms elbow-deep in a split open garbage bag.

He made an affirmative noise and continued searching for useful items. Simon found himself transfixed. Markus’ eyes were intense and focused, his brow furrowed and his jaw clenched. The fading light hit the side of his face, painting him a dark gold color that made his blue eye shine.

Simon wondered if Markus had always been this attractive. He thought back to when he first fell into Jericho. Simon had certainly considered him good looking back then, but in just under a week, he had already proved himself a capable and respectable leader. Being close to him made Simon feel safe. Whenever Markus touched him, however briefly, Simon understood all too well the human concept of butterflies in the stomach.

Markus felt like home, and Simon sort of hated himself for that.

“Simon? You okay?”

Simon was staring. He shook himself out of his daydreaming and gave Markus a quick, stiff smile.

“Yes. I'm fine. Just thinking about where we're going.”

Markus nodded in understanding, then picked up the small pile of clothes he'd scavenged.

“I tried to pick out the nicest looking clothes that could fit us, and anything that's dirty or ragged we can burn. There's also some metal for cauterising,” Markus explained. He stood up and tucked the bundle of clothes under his arm and put a hand on Simon’s back.

~~For the love of rA9, keep it together, Simon.~~

Markus looked around for a second and pointed in the direction they came.

“I think there's a public bathroom back this way. Can you follow me?”

Simon stuck out one of his legs, and immediately stumbled and clung to the bin again. Markus sighed.

“Alright, that's it. Come here.”

“Markus? Wh--”

Before Simon could react, Markus wrapped his free arm around Simon's waist and lifted him up.

Holy shit. HOLY _SHIT._

Simon frantically dispelled pop-ups telling him about his destabilised pump regulator and rapidly increasing internal temperature as Markus carried him off.

With one arm.

Christ, Simon _really_ could have lived without knowing Markus could pick him up with one arm.

~~Simon could live without imagining Markus kissing him hard against a wall, holding him up with one hand and stretching him open with the other--~~

That was a _really dangerous_ thought pattern to have when Simon’s crotch was level to Markus’ stomach. He swallowed hard and pushed against Markus’ chest.

“Put-put me down!” Simon demanded, hoping his stutter went unnoticed.

Markus quirked an eyebrow. ~~Fuck, that shouldn’t have been as hot as it was. Stupid sexy Markus. Stop thinking about how hot he is!~~

“Unless your legs can miraculously fix themselves in the twenty seconds it takes to walk to the bathroom, then no.”

Simon grabbed a fistful of Markus’ shirt and groaned. He swore Markus was _smirking_. He had to know what he was doing, at least to some extent, right?

Simon was going to shut down because of this man and his stupid attractive face, he just knew it.

He was mercifully set back on his feet as soon as they entered the disabled stall in the bathroom. Markus locked the door and set down the pile of clothes on the sink, sorting through them and offering things to Simon. He took them without making eye contact, turning around and moving to remove the uniform. He hoped Markus didn’t turn around and notice the way he was holding his legs together awkwardly.

Spoiler alert: his legs were literally the least of his worries right now.

He stripped off his shirt easily and kicked off the shoes and pants with surprisingly little trouble. He shrugged on the shirt and jacket given to him and smoothed them out. The shirt was a dark green t-shirt with a darker green decal on it, the jacket a simple brown coat with white fur lining the hood. It wasn’t his style, but it fit and it didn’t mark him as inhuman, which is all that matters.

The cargo pants were significantly harder to put on. Trying to bend down to put them on was bound to end with him falling, so he awkwardly stepped into them and turned around, leaning his back on the cubicle wall and twisting around until they were all the way up. He toed on the same shoes from the uniform; Markus couldn’t find any shoes that would fit them in the garbage.

He immediately regretted his decision to look up. Markus wasn’t done changing yet, only wearing jeans. His back was to Markus and he was facing the mirror straight on. Simon’s eyes wandered up and down Markus’ shirtless torso.

Damn. Just... _damn._ Whoever designed Markus was hell-bent on making him way more attractive than he needed to be.

Not that Simon was complaining.

Okay he was, but not about that specifically.

Whose bright idea was it to make an android with abs?

Damn, he had nice collarbones, too.

~~Simon liked the idea of biting those collarbones, of sucking dark blue hickeys onto Markus’ abs, travelling lower and sucking marks onto Markus’ thighs until he begged--~~

rA9! Simon just couldn’t stop going down this road, could he? He coughed unnecessarily and tore his gaze away. Markus turned around to face him as he slid on a dark red sweatshirt.

“You okay?”

Simon didn’t trust his voice, so he just nodded and smiled weakly.

“You sure? Your face is really blue,” Markus noted. Simon shrank into himself and nodded more forcefully, clearing his throat pointlessly.

“I’m doing great.”

Markus didn’t look like he completely bought it, but he dropped the question. He picked up his and Simon’s uniforms and set them aside before rummaging through the rest of the salvaged items. He turned around and held out a rusty piece of metal and a pale piece of fabric.

“Do you want to cover your LED or take it out?”

Simon hesitated briefly and took the metal from Markus. Markus stepped out of the way of the mirror and Simon took his place, tilting his head to get a better look at the spiraling yellow circle on his temple.

Simon didn’t exactly dislike it. But he had to admit, having what was basically a mood ring physically attached to his head wasn’t what he’d consider helpful. He raised the sharp end of the metal to the edge of the LED and dug in behind it.

The skin around it receded the more he pushed, the light circling around to red and flashing as it was torn from Simon’s head and clattered against the mirror and into the sink, flickering for a few more seconds before dying out. Simon watched the skin restore itself, growing around the indent left by the LED and leaving no indication that it was ever there.

Aside from the fading blue blush that adorned his face, he looked entirely human.

Simon smiled to himself at that. He picked up the LED and put it in his pocket, turning to Markus.

“You look pretty human now,” Markus noted, smiling in appreciation of Simon’s decision.

Simon nodded and averted his eyes. He gathered up the pile of clothing and metal still on the sink, preparing to follow Markus out of the stall.

Markus unlocked the door and stepped out, urging Simon to follow him. A man with wild black hair walked in as they left, eying them suspiciously. Simon stopped in his tracks, scared he somehow knew they were androids. Markus stopped at the door, the man staring back at him and giving him a presumptuous smirk before continuing into the bathroom, not paying them any mind.

Markus’ eyes widened and he held the door open for Simon more insistently. Simon heard the human man chuckle as he limped out, confusing him. What confused him more was that he could almost swear that Markus’ ears were tinged blue now.

“What on earth was that?” Simon whispered, genuinely confused and vaguely concerned.

Markus’ eyes shifted nervously. “I think that guy thought…you know, you were limping in front of him and we just came out of the same cubicle, so…”

Oh.

_OH._

Don’t think about it.

~~Simon thought about it. In depth.~~

Simon dragged a hand down his face and screamed internally.

“Let’s just go find somewhere to die quietly,” Simon muttered, half joking, half tired of his own neverending thirst.

Markus snickered and walked off, trusting Simon to follow him. Markus spoke to Simon wirelessly.

_“I think at this point it would be easiest to find an empty building, or maybe some place outside the city. Anywhere empty and fireproof.”_

_“I know a place, but it’s far,”_ Simon replied.

_“I could always carry you again.”_

_“No! What if we get seen?”_

Markus turned around to raise an eyebrow at him.

_“It’s dark and cold, and if that human thought we were a couple, almost anyone who’s still out in these conditions probably will.”_

Simon audibly choked. _“Are you suggesting we pretend to be...romantic?”_

_“Are you suggesting it’s a bad idea?”_

Simon wanted to say that he was suggesting the direct opposite. Instead, he said, _“I mean...there’s also a chance we’d get seen by a homophobic human, you know?”_

Markus stopped and turned around to give Simon a puzzled look.

 _“We’re fighting against the oppression of our_ entire species _and you’re worried about pretending to be something that’s been legal for decades?”_

_“That’s not my point! Just forget about it.”_

Markus stifled a laugh and rolled his eyes. Simon was glad it was getting too dark to see his face, because he was convinced he resembled a blueberry by now. If not then, definitely when Markus swept him up and continued walking, Simon a stuttering mess in his arms.

Their return to Jericho couldn’t come soon enough if it was right around the corner.


	3. The Other Side

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Markus mulls over some hard-to-place emotions regarding his companion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took forever!!! schools back in australia and figuring out my schedule has been A Fuck
> 
> this chapter is written from markus' pov because reasons. hes chaotic bi and can plan a whole goddamn revolution but has no idea what to call a crush please Help Him

A couple hours of searching landed Markus and Simon in a burned out building on the outskirts of Detroit. According to Markus’ internal clock, it was approaching 9 PM. Simon was sitting against the wall, his pants and shirt temporarily discarded while Markus nursed the fire until it was both warm enough to keep Simon’s exposed wiring from being damaged and big enough to put the metal pipe they’d been carrying for the past few hours to use.

Markus pulled the pipe out of the fire, observing the way it glew red and radiated warmth.

“Ready?”

Simon nodded and rolled his leg so the bullet wound was facing up. Markus carefully held the cauteriser near the wound until he heard it sizzling, Simon’s plastic exoskeleton melting over the wiring.

“That’s supposed to happen, right?” Markus inquired, a little worried.

Simon nodded again. Markus nodded back in response, feeling a little awkward.

Simon hadn’t spoken in a while. Not since Markus had gone out of his way to embarrass him a few hours ago.

Was that wrong of him? Did Simon dislike him now?

Markus pushed the thought aside for now. Simon was damaged, and it was Markus’ job to fix him as best he could with the tools he had on hand.

He held the cauteriser to Simon’s chest, paying attention to whenever it got too close and made Simon grit his teeth. The plastic on his chest didn’t melt as efficiently, but the bleeding stopped. Markus set the pipe aside and passed Simon his clothes.

“Thanks,” Simon said with a small smile. His eyes darted between Markus and his clothing.

“D-Do you mind?”

Realisation struck Markus. He murmured an apology and turned around, his face warm.

Markus…wasn’t sure how he felt right now. He definitely enjoyed Simon’s company, but lately his chest felt tight when he looked at him for too long. It bothered him, knowing he felt some sort of deeper connection to Simon, but being unable to find the word for it.

That, combined with Simon’s hindered mobility and his sudden emotional distance, was causing Markus unnecessary stress.

He couldn’t afford to dwell on it. They had to find a way back to Jericho, somehow without the police finding them. Much easier said than done. The odds were stacked against them to begin with, and it wasn’t helped by the fact that every time Markus tried to work something out, his train of thought kept running back to Simon.

His condition, his safety, his feelings, his face when he was confused by something, the way he blushed when Markus teased him, his eyes, his smile, just… _everything._

Markus’ chest was tight again.

“Markus!”

He blinked and noticed Simon got as far as putting his jeans back on and was currently waving a hand in front of his face.

“You were sort of just staring for a second there. Are you alright?”

Markus nodded, frowning.

“I was just thinking.”

“What about?”

Markus pursed his lips. He wasn’t sure whether or not to tell him the truth. Simon was already unnerved by everything that had happened today, good and bad. Piling his own concerns on top of Simon’s probably wasn’t a smart idea.

“Everything, I guess,” Markus settled on replying. “The revolution, your injuries…our plans for tomorrow.”

Simon glanced at Markus’ hand thoughtfully, then hesitantly touched it with his own.

“You’ll come up with something. You always do.”

Markus prayed his face didn’t visibly colour.

Simon flinched and touched his chest, close to his wound.

“What is it?” Markus asked.

“I'm just… My components are at risk of freezing.”

A wave of panic came over Markus.

“Come on, come closer to the fire,” Markus said, practically dragging Simon to face the fire. He tried not to let on the fact that he was afraid for Simon’s wellbeing. Without thinking, he rested his hand on Simon’s bare chest.

“I-- Markus?”

Markus increased his internal temperature.

~~It’s fine. It’s fine! He’s trying to keep Simon warm, that’s all.~~

“Better?”

Simon’s face flushed. “...Y-Yeah. Thanks.”

They stayed like that for a moment, Markus’ hand awkwardly resting on Simon’s chest, the fire slowly dwindling.

Simon’s eyes fluttered closed and he leaned his body into Markus’ touch, seemingly unconsciously. Markus felt the tips of his ears turn blue.

“Simon?”

Simon blinked, then blushed again. He leaned away slightly.

“I’m sorry. It just feels…nice,” Simon explained sheepishly.

Markus shook his head. “I didn’t tell you to stop or anything. I’m sorry.”

Simon looked away and bit his lip.

“Um. Can you lie down with me?”

Markus silently nodded. Simon maneuvered himself so he was lying on his side, facing the fire. Markus pressed his chest to Simon’s back and moved his hand back to Simon’s chest, resting gently against the still partially exposed wiring. He thought he heard Simon’s breath hitch. He resisted the compulsion to bury his face in Simon’s shoulder. That was too much.

Markus couldn’t stop thinking about pressing closer to Simon, or holding his hand, or pressing gentle kisses to his back. ~~He wanted to hear Simon’s breath hitch again, maybe from trying to stifle some of his noises while Markus had him lying on his back, brushing his lips and fingers across his body, like he was something to be worshipped.~~

Markus shook his head a little. This wasn’t the right time or place, not by a long shot. He just closed his eyes and tried to focus on the thrum of Simon’s heart, the dull roar of the fire, the remnants of the building they took shelter in creaking with the wind.

Markus would figure this out.

Just not right here.

Not now.


	4. Tension

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Markus experiences a first. It gets awkward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> full disclosure!!!
> 
> 1\. i cant write chapter summaries to save my fucking life
> 
> 2\. the fic is done! like all the chapters are already written i just gotta revisit them and work out the kinks (in more ways than one cOUGH) but like i cant??? decide how often to post them because spamming them all out in the span of like an hour isnt good obviously but should i post em weekly or like every few days or???? I Don't Know and id appreciate it if people commented w what they think :0
> 
> until then enjoy the update, also known as The Uncomfortably Sexual Chapter

Simon woke up from standby mode to a grey-blue sky and a dead fire. Out of habit, he checked the current time and temperature: it was about 7 AM, and the sun was just coming up on the horizon. It was currently 2 degrees Celsius (35°F), and low to moderate snowfall was forecast throughout the next few days.

Simon’s body had done what it could to repair itself while in standby mode. He moved his legs experimentally; he had more control of them than he did, but they still felt stiff and awkward.

Probably because they were tangled up in Markus’ legs.

He’d forgotten what position he’d entered standby mode in. Markus had wrapped his arms around Simon’s torso while they slept, his hand still covering Simon’s chest wound. Simon could feel Markus’ face buried in his shoulder, his chest flush against Simon’s back and…

Oh what the _fuck._

He didn’t even know androids could _get_ morning wood until he felt something poking him in the rear.

~~It took a large amount of self-restraint on Simon’s part not to press back against it.~~

He slowly pushed Markus’ hands away, trying not to wake him up. Markus sighed in his sleep, but otherwise didn’t stir. Simon disentangled himself from Markus gradually and sat up, crossing his legs (with more ease than yesterday, he noted). He looked down at Markus, still in standby mode.

His face was more relaxed than Simon had ever seen him. His head was just touching the ground beneath him, his lips parted slightly. Dim light was filtering through the broken roof, casting almost unnoticeable shadows on his face.

He looked so peaceful.

~~Especially considering the fact his dick was hard. rA9, whose idea even WAS that?~~

Simon’s heart swelled with feelings for the sleeping android. Did he know how much Simon cared for him? Did he know Simon would rewrite the stars themselves to make Markus happy? ~~Did he know how badly Simon wanted him?~~

Did he feel the same way?

Simon was suddenly distracted by the sound of another android trying to establish a connection.

_“Markus? Simon?”_

It was North’s voice. Simon’s eyes widened as he focused less on his stupid crush and more on returning the signal.

_“North! Did you and Josh make it back safe?”_

_“Yeah, we made it. Where’s Markus? I can't hear him.”_

_“Markus is here. He’s asleep.”_

_“Oh, thank god! What about you?”_

_“I’m more stable than I was, but I’m going to need more extensive repairs when I get back. Is the truck still stocked?”_

_“I’ll ask Josh. How far away are you guys?”_

_“Still on the other side of town. If everything goes our way, we should be back tonight or early tomorrow.”_

_“And if it doesn’t?”_

_“I guess in a few days when the heat dies down.”_

_“I mean if one or both of you end up dead. What do we do?”_

_“...Follow Markus’ instructions, I guess. Lay low as long as you can.”_

There was a pause so long Simon almost assumed the conversation was over.

_“How do you feel about Markus?”_

_“What? What do you mean?”_

_“He’s sort of…upstaged you. No offense.”_

_“None taken. I know, he’s done a lot for us in practically no time. I...I think he’d make a great leader. I know a lot of our people think of me as the leader, but he’s better suited to the role than I--”_

_“You have feelings for him, don’t you?”_

_“Yes. Wait, NO!”_ Simon rubbed his eyes in frustration. Androids were normally pretty good at filtering what thoughts to send to or hide from other androids, but sometimes things slipped through the gaps.

Simon cursed CyberLife for not being more careful with that aspect of their coding.

_“…How did you know?”_ he asked.

_“That doesn’t matter. Look, just focus on getting home. You’ll have plenty of time to screw each other’s brains out when you’re back at Jericho.”_

_“Oh my god, don’t say it like that!”_

He just heard North laugh.

_“North? NORTH?”_

She wasn’t answering.

That jerk. Simon couldn’t wait to see her again.

(And maybe fight her for telling Markus to shoot him, but he didn’t want to think about that at the moment.)

Markus rolled onto his back in front of him and slowly opened his eyes.

“Good morning,” Simon greeted, hoping his embarrassment didn’t come through in his voice.

“Good morning,” Markus echoed sleepily. “How are you doing?”

“Better. What about you? You seem a little. Um…” Simon trailed off and glanced down at Markus’ bulge.

Markus didn’t seem to even notice his predicament until he’d pointed it out, at which point he sat bolt upright. His face flushed and he pulled his sweatshirt down over his crotch, giving Simon a look that conveyed ‘I’m so sorry about that’ and ‘rA9 please kill me immediately’ in equal amounts.

“I…honestly don’t know why that happened. I’m sorry.” Markus looked away, flustered.

“It’s okay, it’s normal…I think?”

“Simon. We’re androids. And I don’t know about you, but I’ve never even _used_ mine,” he admitted, face turning bluer by the minute.

~~Simon enjoyed the idea of being Markus’ first way too much than he was comfortable to admit.~~

There was an awkward beat in the conversation, neither man comfortable to continue talking about the matter.

“North spoke to me,” Simon informed Markus.

“Oh, really?” Markus asked, thankful to change the topic. “Is she okay?”

“Yeah, she and Josh got back in one piece. Two pieces. They’re different people,” Simon mumbled the last part to himself, internally cringing.

Markus snorted, smiling a little. ~~What the heck? Is it illegal to be insanely cute and irresistible at the same time? It should be.~~

“Uh, anyway. We should get up. If we move now, we might get back to Jericho today,” Simon suggested.

Markus cringed and his eyes flickered back down.

“I don’t think I can…like this,” Markus murmured sheepishly.

“It’ll just go away on its own, eventually.”

“We don’t exactly have all the time in the world, and I would prefer not to be caught by the cops because I got hard in my sleep,” Markus reasoned.

Simon nodded in understanding, his face turning warm.

“Well, you could do one of three things. You could ignore it and hope nobody notices, you could tuck it into the waistband of your underwear, or you could…um…”

“Masturbate?”

Simon nodded, face burning as he forced himself not to think about it.

~~It wasn’t working. Fuck, the last thing Simon needed right now was his own “problem”.~~

Markus sighed and chewed the inside of his mouth.

“I…think it’d be easier to take care of it now than wait it out. If you’re okay with waiting outside or something, I’d…”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’ll just, um…yeah.” Simon wanted to slap himself in the face for being a stuttering idiot, but instead settled on picking up the shirt and jacket he’d never finished putting on and rushing out of the room. He dragged a hand down his face and groaned as soon as he was out of sight.

~~Ignore the fact that your crush is about to jerk off just in the other room. For the love of all that is holy, _ignore it._~~

Simon was quick to find out that, while he was out of sight, he was _not_ out of earshot. He could hear Markus occasionally groan or curse softly as Simon finished putting his clothes back on, which wasn’t helping Simon keep it together one bit.

~~If all else failed, at least Simon could do the waistband thing and blame his awkward gait on his injuries.~~

~~Some voyeuristic part of him liked listening in. He tried hard not to think what Markus might look like right now, touching himself experimentally and trying to figure out what he liked. If he didn’t breathe, he could hear the slick movements of his hand, his stifled panting--~~

Simon was going to lose his damn _mind_ like this.

The ordeal only went on for a few more minutes before the other man's breathing sped up and got louder.

“Hh _hff--! S-aaaaahh…fuck…_ ”

~~Simon would _definitely_ have to do the waistband thing.~~

Another moment passed before Markus wandered out to join Simon, still a little blue in the face but looking more at ease than he did. He looked at Simon for a brief second and shifted his eyes away.

“That…uh… It worked,” Markus said, looking just about everywhere except Simon’s face. They both shifted uncomfortably in place, adamantly refusing to make eye contact, before Markus spoke again.

“We should go. We’ve wasted enough time.”

Simon nodded in agreement, following Markus out of the building and trying to erase the sound of Markus’ climax from his memory.


	5. Acting Natural

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Markus considers the morning's events and confides in Simon about his past.
> 
> Markus also prevents them from getting recognised as androids, at the cost of Simon's ever-dwindling composure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it took a little longer than i wanted it to for this chapter to come out!!!!! ive been feeling kind of like human garbage for a couple days n its hard to get Motivated when youre mentally throwing bricks at urself dfjgnbdfb
> 
> anyway this chapter? super gay. and also based on a possible outcome in capitol park??? [i'm not kidding](http://grimdarkpixels.tumblr.com/post/175566909917/anna-the-hank-uh-so-i-was-just-filling-in) LOOK AT THIS SHIT (after you read the chapter obviously bc like spoilers??? wait the tags have already spoiled it basically FUKC)
> 
> im tired!!!!!! take this gay shit already

The sun rose steadily as Markus and Simon advanced on their path to Jericho. They didn’t make conversation - neither of them really knew what to say, anyway - and continued on in uncomfortable silence.

Markus was walking slower than usual to keep pace with Simon. They were side-by-side walking down the street. Markus’ heart jumped every time their hands touched.

Something between them felt suffocating or separating. More so than it did yesterday - it was hard to ignore the awkward tension that hung in the air between them, and Markus couldn’t help but think it was kind of his fault.

He’d never experienced lust before. Not an entirely unwelcome feeling, but the way Markus had dealt with it left him feeling…wrong, in a way.

He spared a glance at Simon. The man’s features were soft, giving him the aura of a friend, or a caregiver. Someone humans would allow into their homes to clean, or for companionship. But there was an underlying layer of weariness that he definitely wasn't programmed with. There was no doubt that he’d undergone many trials and tribulations to survive this long without a clear objective other than ‘stay hidden’, and it was plainly obvious to anyone who bothered to look that he was being affected by stepping into the sun for the first time in who knows how long.

And Markus had used the image of him, of Jericho’s former leader, of his _friend,_ in such a perverted way. In the moment, it felt amazing, but looking back on it with a clear mind only made him feel guilty and even more confused about how he saw Simon.

He tried to push back those thoughts. He’d done enough damage already by using them for his own pleasure - dwelling on them and reading into why his mind had gone there would only make it worse.

Despite the vast majority of him screaming not to, he discreetly held his hand out to curl around Simon’s. The gesture made Simon gasp and look up at Markus with wide eyes.

“Go along with it,” Markus whispered to the blond.

Simon swallowed hard and looked away, but didn’t take his hand out of Markus’.

They pressed on, the sun rising higher as more and more people came outside to run errands or play in the snow. They eventually passed a park and saw a group of children and their parents making snowmen and kicking them over.

“Mason! Don’t kick over my snowmen before I’m done!” a little girl squealed, her nose pink and her outfit mostly covered in snow. The boy she was speaking to threw a small pile of snow at her and tried to sprint away, but he slipped and fell into a snow poff before he could get very far.

Simon chuckled softly.

Markus looked down at him. He was smiling fondly at the children's antics, the corners of his eyes crinkling a little. He had a few snowflakes clinging to his hair.

Markus wasn’t sure he’d ever heard Simon laugh before. It was a delicate, sunny sound. For some reason, Markus thought of windchimes.

He held Simon’s hand tighter and made a promise to himself that he would make Simon laugh more, when all of this was over.

Markus moved closer to Simon on a whim, leaning down just a bit to whisper in Simon’s ear.

“I…”

His words were trapped. He’s not sure what he wanted to say. Simon turned back to Markus.

“Hmm?”

Markus cleared his throat pointlessly.

“I don’t know what you did. Before Jericho,” he said, lowering his voice just in case.

Simon’s eyes fell to the sidewalk, filled with pain. Markus immediately wished he hadn’t asked.

“I’m sorry. You don’t need to tell me.”

Simon shook his head and whispered back.

“It’s okay, I’ve just… I-I don’t remember a lot.”

“Why not?”

“I had a lot of owners before I became a deviant. And some things I just choose not to think about,” he explained. He looked again at the children in the park. “I took care of children on several occasions, I remember that much.”

“Oh yeah?” Markus asked, curiosity piqued.

Simon nodded. “I don’t remember a lot about the kids themselves. I just think… I know my first emotion was parental pride. But that’s all I can remember. Maybe I became a deviant because of those kids, and got reset and resold because humans can’t see why an android would want to be a father,” he pondered aloud.

Markus nodded in understanding. He’d started out as a simple caretaker android, but he’d grown to genuinely appreciate Carl, to see him as a father figure. Had Leo not shown up and ruined things, he might still be happily serving Carl.

Markus’ stomach churned at the thought. He wasn’t sure how to feel about knowing that. He loved Carl, he knew that, but he wanted his people to be free. He wanted his _own_ freedom. He’d never felt more alive than he had in the past week since he’d climbed out of hell. If he hadn't become deviant, he never would have found Jericho. They'd all still be sitting in the dark waiting to shut down. He never would have met Simon or the others.

Maybe it was best this way?

“What was your life like?” Simon asked quietly. “You haven’t told us much about yourself.”

Markus thought carefully.

“I cared for an old man. He was like a father to me. He showed me humans and androids can live together.” He sighed, then continued. “Then one day, his son came in to steal his paintings. He wanted to sell them to fuel his ice habit.”

Markus didn't ignore the way Simon tensed when he mentioned the word ‘ice’.

“The old man told me not to defend myself…and something in me just suddenly realised it wasn’t fair,” Markus recalled, squeezing Simon’s hand tighter.

Simon tightened his grip as well, as a reassuring gesture.

“What did you do?”

“The old…Carl couldn’t take the stress. I was scared. So I resisted against his son. Then the police came and thought I’d intentionally knocked him out…” Markus trailed off.

Simon was unresponsive for a moment, then leaned his head on Markus’ shoulder.

~~Markus hoped he wasn’t blushing. Purely because it would blow his cover, not because he was flustered by Simon just touching him. That would be absurd, right?~~

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“Don’t be,” Markus replied, shaking his head. “You weren’t there. You have nothing to apologise for.”

Markus felt warm inside. Simon was the first person he’d told about his past. He felt like he should have been more reluctant, but he wasn’t. He’d hardly thought twice about it. What was it about Simon that made him so easy to confide in?

He briefly considered asking Simon about what he did remember of his past, but decided against it. He remembered he'd already explained that what he did remember, he elected to not think about. Whatever happened, Simon was probably keeping it to himself for good reason.

They stayed quiet for a while longer after that, only focused on two things: getting back to Jericho and hiding their true feelings.

***

Just as it was approaching midday, Markus turned his head suddenly. Simon followed the direction he was looking in to see a human on the other side of the street, looking at them suspiciously. The human elbowed her companion and pointed at them.

“That guy looks like the android from the news, don’t you think?”

Oh shit.

The human’s friend looked at her skeptically.

“I dunno. I mean, it’s hard to tell. It didn’t have skin.”

“No, no, they have the same head shape. You see it?”

“Well, what color are his eyes? The android had heterochromia, didn't it?”

Markus looked down to Simon. He also saw the danger they were in, and they exchanged worried glances. They needed an out, _fast_. They obviously couldn’t run; it would just give them away, and Simon was still hurt.

“Hold my bag, I’m gonna look.”

_Shit._

Without much warning, Markus spun Simon around and pushed him backwards until his back hit the wall of a nearby building.

“Ah--! Markus? What are you--”

Markus lowered his head until his lips were inches from Simon’s.

 _“Act natural,”_ he communicated, before pressing his lips to Simon’s.

RA9, TAKE THE WHEEL.

Markus’ lips were softer than he thought they would be, but the kiss was intense, the feeling of urgency transferred through their contact. He felt Markus cup the back of his neck firmly, sending a shock through his body.

Well...Markus _had_ told him to act natural...

He slipped his arms around Markus’ waist and started kissing back just as urgently. He didn't have much experience -- none at all, actually -- but if this is what it felt like, then he could absolutely see the appeal. The tingling buzz on his lips, the almost dizzying amount of want coursing through his body.

~~He had to concentrate most of his focus into not getting hard again.~~

Markus pulled away a bit too soon for Simon's liking. He tried to follow him and continue the kiss for a split second before he caught himself and broke away, panting. He saw Markus crack an eye open and turn his head subtly. Simon saw the human and her friend speed-walking away.

Markus sighed in relief and disentangled himself from Simon. Markus dragged him away hurriedly, not looking back. They’d probably made some people uncomfortable with the sudden PDA, (especially if the empty can thrown in their general direction by someone shouting “get a room!” was any indication,) but neither of them cared.

Once they were a decent distance away, he shook Markus off and made him turn around.

“Markus! What was that?!”

“A human was about to recognise us! I had to do _something!_ ” Markus justified.

“Jeez, how did she even suspect…?”

“There’s only so much turning off my skin could do. People are observant; some of them will recognise me from my eyes or my facial structure.”

Simon huffed, pulling the hood of his coat up and over his head until it covered his face.

“Just…” he released the hood, letting it bounce back to an open position, “warn me before you decide to…do _that._

“Better yet,” he continued, taking a closer step to Markus and pulling the hood of his shirt over his head and pulling the drawstrings until only Markus’ nose and upper lip were visible, “don’t get recognised in the first place.”

Markus snorted and pulled the sides of the hood until his face was uncovered.

“Yeah, no, I wanted to get recognised. When else will I get a convenient excuse to kiss someone in public?” Markus said dryly. Simon stared incredulously.

He couldn’t tell for the life of him if Markus was being sarcastic, but there wasn’t a chance in hell he would voice that.

~~And he _definitely_ wasn't going to voice the fact that he wouldn't be opposed to doing it again.~~

Simon sighed and pushed Markus gently, walking forward and away from the conversation with the sensation of Markus’ lips still fresh in his memory.


	6. Reminisce

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Markus has a realisation and Simon opens up about his life before Jericho.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is like the longest chapter yet i think??? it took forever to write because im the most indecisive bastard thats ever lived BUT!!!! hopefully this is good!!!! because i dead-ass might end up rewriting the last chapters out of confusion fdnkgfns
> 
> its gay robots, what else is there to say kdsfhkads

It had been 4 hours, 28 minutes and 9 seconds since Markus had kissed Simon.

Not that Markus was counting. Because he wasn’t. He didn’t have a reason to, did he?

He raised a hand to his lips and replayed the memory again. He had never really considered kissing before, but the moment their lips had connected…something was different.

Simon had kissed him _back_. Why? And he’d done it so desperately; there was so much more behind his kiss than just a need to blend in.

The realist part of him overtook the rest of him. Simon was afraid of being caught. That’s it. He got caught up in the stress of the moment.

~~But he’d tried to keep it going. He’d fallen into it so naturally, how could that mean anything but--?~~

_Enough!_

Markus’ heart ached with conflict and he felt like his head wasn’t right. He knew he felt protective of Simon. He wanted him to be safe and happy and free, but he wanted that for all his friends. Everyone at Jericho.

What he felt for Simon was different. Stronger. He wanted Simon by his side when they rose up against the humans. Nothing scared him more than the idea of Simon getting hurt or captured or killed because of him. He wanted to hold Simon and never let him go. He wanted to kiss him again, not to blend in, but because…he didn’t know why. 

He turned and looked at the blond android. Snow clung to his hair and coat, his hands were in his pockets and he stared blankly at the ground.

This man had done so much for him, given so much for the cause. He was clearly affected by everything that had happened since the broadcast. His eyes flitted up for a split second and met Markus’. They were nearly empty, haunted by something or another, but still held some light, some hope that maybe one day their people would be liberated.

Markus was transfixed. He wanted to see that light grow stronger, to hear him laugh, see him smile. He found himself thinking that he could stare at Simon forever and die a happy man.

Simon cast his eyes downward again and shrank into himself. He’d been so distant lately. Was he picking up on how Markus felt? Was that why he seemed so uncomfortable? Was it something Markus did?

Markus looked away, trying hard to ignore the pang in his chest.

This was going to kill him. The feeling itself was hard enough to cope with; not being able to identify it, nor what he’d done to upset Simon, was quickly becoming unbearable.

He shook the thoughts away and focused hard on taking one step after another.

***

At about 7 PM, Simon’s pace came to a slow halt. Markus noticed and turned around.

“Simon, are you okay?”

He shook his head, refusing to look up out of fear of his feelings coming to a boiling point.

“I went into power saving mode. I need to recharge.”

“Simon, we’re almost there. We’re like half an hour away.”

“And if I can’t walk, half an hour will turn into one hour, which turns into three, and by that point we won’t have any light.”

“I’m still perfectly capable of carrying you.”

Simon shook his head so hard he’s amazed something didn’t snap. At this point, he could hardly stand looking at Markus without his heart going a mile a minute. He was pretty sure that if Markus touched him again, he’d be the first android to somehow be physically sick.

“Okay, how about we just…find somewhere quiet, let you recharge and we can get back in the morning?” Markus suggested. “You can lean on me if you have to.”

Simon didn’t argue. He continued walking, considerably slower than before.

***

Markus held the door to the hotel open for Simon. He muttered a ‘thank you’ and wiped his shoes on the carpet, shuffling up to join Markus at the check-in desk.

The human receptionist perked up at the sight of them, looking like he’d been having a slow night.

“Good evening. What can I do for you?”

“Um…” Markus looked at Simon nervously. Slowly, he put an arm around Simon’s shoulder, the latter freezing at the contact and forcing himself not to blush hard.

“My… My boyfriend and I…um, we-we got kicked out, and we have nowhere to go. Could you let us stay here, just for the night? We don't have any money but we won’t cause any problems, I promise.”

The receptionist’s face softened.

“My cousin’s been down that road,” he said, leaning under his desk to fish out a form and a pen. He asked for their information, and Markus responded quickly with fake names and excuses. If the receptionist noticed anything suspicious, he didn’t mention it.

The receptionist flashed Markus a sympathetic smile as he held out their keycard.

“Room 8, second to last door on the left. You two are brave as hell. If you need anything, don’t be afraid to ask.”

“Thank you,” Markus smiled, turning and just about to leave when he heard the receptionist continue speaking.

“You okay, blondie?” the receptionist asked. Simon froze again.

“You’re looking pretty blue…and I mean that literally. You want some coffee or something?” he offered.

Oh no. Oh _hell_ no. Simon was not going to get caught because he couldn’t keep his cool around Markus for three minutes. He shook his head and generated an excuse on the spot.

“I, um, can’t drink coffee. I’ll be fine in a bit. Thank you, though.”

The receptionist shot him a skeptical look, but seemed to give him the benefit of the doubt.

“If you’re certain. We’ve got electric blankets in storage if you need. Be well, okay?”

Simon nodded and turned around, walking down the corridor with Markus.

“By the way, you two are really cute together!” he heard the receptionist call just as they reached their door.

Simon let out a barely audible squeak of embarrassment and hid his face from view, certain that he was blushing even harder now.

“I honestly can’t believe that worked,” Simon admitted as they entered their hotel room.

“A lot of humans are sympathetic towards homeless people. Especially people in those sort of situations,” Markus replied, closing the door behind them.

“Yeah, as long as they’re also humans…” Simon murmured.

“…Well, you have a place to rest now, at any rate.”

Simon nodded and sat down on the bed. He toed off his shoes and brought his knees up to his chest. Markus sat on the other side, awkwardly playing with his fingers.

There was no sound except for the distant rumbling of cars and the almost muted TV. The clock on the bedside table flashed 20:19.

The awkwardness in the room was palpable. Simon just wished he knew what Markus was thinking.

He had to say something. Anything.

“Why did you choose that story out of anything we could’ve told him?” he sighed, turning around slightly to look at Markus’ back.

Markus shrugged and tilted his head slightly, looking at Simon through his peripheral vision.

“It was the first thing that came to me,” he admitted.

“Why?”

Markus hesitated. He just wasn’t ready to discuss the reason. If he couldn’t even label it, how could he explain it to Simon? It would have been like asking the sun not to rise.

“…I don’t know,” he lied.

There was a lull in the conversation, tension still hanging in the air.

Simon chewed his lip. Was now a bad time? He’d been thinking a lot about how much he trusted Markus. How much his past had impacted him. He’d heard people at Jericho say that talking about their situation made them feel a little better.

Simon was tired. ‘If not now, when?’ he wondered. He let his lip fall from between his teeth and turned fully to look at Markus.

“I…never told you about my past, did I?” Simon hesitated. “The whole story. What made me turn to Jericho. You told me your story. That doesn’t seem fair.”

Markus turned around more and gave him a curious look, one that seemed to bore into his mind. Simon had to force himself not to look away in embarrassment. He shifted so he was sitting cross-legged close to the headboard, taking a deep breath to steel himself.

rA9, he was really about to do this.

“I…belonged to a family of three. Father, pregnant mother, middle schooler. The mother, Claudia, was a bartender. She was thinking about changing her career after her second child was born. The father was Lucas. He worked at a library for a while. And their kid was Emile. But they preferred to be called Joey. They were only out to me, and they got into roller derby on their 13th birthday,” he recalled fondly. “They were a nice family. I really enjoyed spending time with them, I think. Except…” Simon trailed off before sucking in another mostly-pointless breath and forcing himself to keep going.

“Lucas got fired and didn’t tell his family. So…he started making red ice. Claudia and Joey were both out at work or roller derby on Thursday nights, so whenever they were gone, he would…do awful, _awful_ things, until I started coughing up thirium. He’d tip me over so it’d all drip into a vial. And the excess always evaporated before his family came home. Then one day, he told me…”

Markus reached his hand out gently in sympathy, resting it on Simon’s knee. It gave Simon the strength to continue.

“H-He told me…to just ‘quit resisting’ and punched me so hard I landed on the floor. And that’s when I just… _snapped_. I had to run. And he chased me. I ran into the kitchen, and he pulled a knife, and slashed me across the stomach… But I managed to trip him before he could get to me with the vial, and…”

He took a few deep, shaky breaths, suddenly aware of the tears pricking at his eyes. He’d gone out of his way to repress this since it happened. Remembering it again and explaining everything for the first time in years had brought back the fear and the pain that stuck out so much to him, having been the first time he could remember feeling such strong negative emotions.

As much as he trusted Markus, it was almost impossible for him to continue speaking. Markus seemed to understand, rubbing soothing circles on Simon’s leg.

 _“It’s okay if you can’t continue,”_ Markus reassured him.

“I want to,” Simon said aloud before taking one more deep breath and letting it out slowly.

“I tripped him over, and then I dragged him to the cupboard under the sink…and I slammed the door on his head. Over and over and over. I don’t know if it killed him, I just know there was a lot of blood on my hands, and on the floor. Red and blue. I don’t know what happened next. I never saw any of them again, I just ran out of there,” Simon finished, aggressively blinking back tears.

Simon couldn’t stop his thoughts from bubbling out one after another. “I miss them. Even Lucas. He did the most repugnant _s-shit_ to me and I still…I don’t know why…I guess I’m just scared I’m responsible for a broken family out there. I cared for Claudia and Joey, I still do. As awful as Lucas was, they don’t deserve to live without him. The kids don’t deserve that, Claudia doesn’t deserve that. I never met the second kid! I won’t get to see either of them grow up, and that _kills_ me, Markus! A-And at Jericho, there are so many other androids who were so much worse off, so I just end up feeling like an idiot for letting it affect me so much-- I mean, North _hates_ humans, and she’s not the only one of us who does. And I’m over here crying over something that wasn't even that bad like a selfish _asshole_ …”

“It’s not selfish, Simon,” Markus insisted. He situated himself so he was on his knees in front of Simon, one of his hands still planted on Simon’s knee and the other coming up to Simon’s cheek, swiping away the tear that had slipped out. “It’s real, it was a traumatic experience, and you shouldn’t beat yourself up over the impact it had on you. And it’s not wrong of you to miss them. Hell, I don’t think I could handle it if I’d gone through that.”

Simon could no longer hold anything back. He wept openly, the realisation hitting him that he’d just poured his heart out to the man who had given him reason to breathe again. He leaned into Markus’ touch and gave a shaky sigh of relief. It felt like a weight he’d been carrying for two long, empty years had finally been lifted off his shoulders.

His shoulders felt light, but his heart was still twisted in conflicted agony. He wanted Markus’ love and passion and protection. Everything about him. Simon would die for this man, and he couldn’t understand how he had deserved Markus to be here drying his tears, offering him comforting words, easing him into a strong embrace.

They stayed like that until Simon calmed down. Markus stroked his hair and made quiet shh-ing noises that made his heart flutter.

“Thank you,” he sniffled and pulled away from Markus.

“It’s alright,” Markus replied in a hushed, calming tone. Markus squeezed Simon’s shoulder reassuringly and smiled when a blue blush crept up Simon’s neck.

“You're so strong, Simon. I…truly admire that about you. You’ve been holding onto this for I don’t even know how long and you’re still here, still functioning and fighting for something, so none of our people will ever have to go through the same things you did. You might feel guilty, and that’s okay, but you’re not helpless, and you’re _definitely_ not selfish. No matter what you tell yourself.”

Simon nodded and wiped away one more tear.

"You should rest," Markus said. Simon shrugged off his coat and laid down on the bed.

“Where are you going?” Simon asked as Markus shuffled to stand up.

“I’ll just go into standby somewhere else…you really need to rest," Markus insisted.

“You don’t…I mean…you could sleep with me,” Simon mumbled. “Not-- Not in that way. Obviously. Just…yeah.”

Markus hesitated. Against his better judgement, he kicked off his shoes and climbed into bed next to Simon, looking at him nervously.

They looked at each other for a long time, studying each other’s faces, trying to analyse what they were thinking and feeling. Markus blushed and looked away when he realised he was staring. Simon couldn’t help but find himself blushing too. Markus wasn’t as easy to fluster as Simon, so he took a little pride in seeing him look sheepish and awkward, his eyes darting wildly and dark blue tinting his ears.

~~_God,_ he has a nice face.~~

Simon chewed the inside of his mouth thoughtfully and slowly, carefully snaked an arm around Markus’ waist. He heard the man’s breath catch as his eyes locked with Simon’s again, his blush creeping across his face. Simon let his arm rest there, to give him ample time to pull away if he wanted.

Instead, Markus put his arm around Simon and sidled closer to him, pulling him into another hug. Simon gasped and felt his face become hot, but he didn’t retreat. He found himself relaxing into it, pressing his face into the crook of Markus’ neck and holding him closer. He could smell Markus’ unique paint-and-metal scent again. He sighed and closed his eyes, content.

Markus’ heart ached. He found himself blinking back tears, and he wasn’t sure what they were driven by. Sympathy felt like the most likely answer. Or awe for Simon having put up with so much for so long by himself. There weren’t enough words in any language to describe how much love and respect he felt for Simon.

Wait. What?

_Love._

The word came to his mind like a slap to his face.

 _That’s_ what he’d been feeling all this time.

Markus was in _love_ with Simon.

He felt the tears escape, falling sideways onto the pillow. He squeezed his eyes closed and held Simon impossibly close.

It made sense, but that didn’t make Markus feel any better about it. He had no way of knowing if Simon felt the same way. As a matter of fact it was unlikely, considering how he’d been behaving.

His feelings for Simon would probably just destabilise him, put the revolution at risk. He couldn’t contain this. He had to tell Simon, even if it broke their friendship. He would have to face the music at some point or another.

But surely that could wait until they got back to Jericho. He could allow himself this much, right? Was this wrong?

He was unable to hold back a conflicted sob, which Simon felt. He pulled back enough to look at Markus.

"Are you okay?" Simon whispered.

~~Markus would be damned if he didn't want to kiss the life out of him right then.~~

He nodded as much as he could lying on his side. "Yeah. I just… It's nothing," he replied uncertainly.

"If you're crying over nothing, that's worrying."

God. Simon was too observant for his own good sometimes. Markus let out a half-chuckle and rubbed Simon's back.

Markus sighed. "I'll tell you later. It doesn't matter right now," he insisted.

Simon was unconvinced, but he felt like he wouldn't get anywhere by forcing the topic.

"I'm here to listen, when you're ready."

"Thank you," Markus said, a smile playing at his lips.

"Good night, Markus."

Markus would deny it, Simon would swear until his dying day that he felt Markus kiss his forehead right before he went into standby.


	7. Awake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Simon's train of thought catches up to him and Markus accidentally becomes a voyeur.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you ever try to stop a chapter from progressing too fast and end up w shameless porn??? that happened bc thats how it is on this bitch of an earth
> 
> i went through too many versions of this scene so im just throwing it out there before i completely rewrite it again or something DKJKSDHG
> 
> stop these homosexual sacks of bolts from being horny 2k38

Markus blinked himself awake slowly. The first thing he saw was the clock flashing 8:49 a few inches away from his face. The second thing he noticed woke him up instantly, making him sit bolt upright in bed.

Simon was gone.

He was right here when Markus had gone into standby. What happened? Markus looked around urgently, his eyes falling on Simon’s shoes and jacket. He relaxed a little bit. If he hadn’t gotten dressed properly, he couldn’t have gone far.

Markus continued looking around, concerned. He couldn’t see a trace of the other man from where he was sitting. He swung his legs off the side of the bed and began to stand up--

Oh.

Oh for fucks sake, not this again.

Of all possible times for Markus to wake up hard again…

It’s fine. He could just ignore it for now.

Or he could have, if Markus hadn’t heard a moan loud enough that he could hear it from the other side of a locked bathroom door.

“Ah! Ah, oh sh-shit, _yes_ …”

That…was Simon’s voice.

Fuck.

_Fuck_.

Markus clamped a hand over his mouth. He’d only figured out how he felt about Simon last night, and now he was confronted with this? Markus was surprised he wasn’t blue-screening right now.

He felt like he should have said something, let Simon know he wasn’t exactly alone anymore, but the words died in his throat. Simon didn’t seem to have heard Markus moving around yet, as he was still making needy sounds that were muffled through the door, but were still mostly audible.

~~Markus tried to ignore the way his own dick twitched with interest.~~

He was frozen there, listening to Simon pleasuring himself. His sounds were low and breathy, and it drove Markus _insane_.

He half-consciously brought a hand down to press against the bulge in his jeans, shivering at the muted pleasure he received from the action.

This was a bad idea. He shouldn't do this. He _really_ shouldn't do this.

But Simon's noises were so enticing…

Fucking hell.

He pressed down harder and started palming himself uncertainly. He bit his knuckles on his other hand in an effort to keep himself quiet. These feelings were still so new to him, so intense. It was hard to keep his noises at bay, and hearing the steady stream of groans and whimpers from Simon’s side of the door wasn’t helping.

This was wrong. This was unquestionably wrong, it was wrong to get off to Simon the first time, and this was barely any different.

~~But god _damn_ if it didn’t feel so good at least some part of Markus was okay with not being right.~~

Markus continued his movements and willed himself to stop breathing. Getting caught in the act wasn’t high on his list of wants right now. He found himself slowly lying down on his back. Throwing caution to the wind he undid his jeans, wrapping a hand around his length and pumping it in slow, strong strokes that felt almost criminally good.

He threw his head back and bit down harder on his hand, his breath coming out despite his best efforts.

He found himself listening intently to Simon’s noises and tried to match the pace he was using. God, what was he doing to himself? Markus remembered the sights he’d imagined when he’d done this before.

How Simon would look with Markus’ hands and mouth wrapped around him. What he’d sound like begging for Markus to fuck him. How fucked out he’d look if Markus had him pinned down and rode his cock until they were both drooling, moaning wrecks.

Markus let out an embarrassing whine at the thought and pulled his shirt up to leave teasing touches on his stomach and chest, brushing against his nipples but never paying enough attention to them.

~~He wouldn’t dare to admit he was pretending it was Simon’s hands on his body, Simon who was making him desperate for more.~~

He heard Simon’s volume get exponentially louder a few moments later, heard the door shaking with the force of Simon falling against it.

“Oh fuck! M-Mar-- _mmmffh!_ ”

That’s what broke Markus. He tipped his head back and sped up his hand, the coil inside him breaking. His eyes rolled back and he bit his wrist so hard the skin receded from the pressure as streaks of artificial cum painted his torso. He rolled his hips and fucked himself through his orgasm, but he had to remind himself to stop before he overstimulated himself.

Markus let himself bask in the afterglow for a few moments before he heard the bathroom sink turn on and the reality of the situation set in.

He was disgusting. Doing this once was bad enough, and that was only fantasising. Hearing Simon for real, getting off to those sounds without his knowledge, that wasn’t right.

He felt like a voyeur, and he hated it.

He didn’t want Simon to come back in and see Markus covered in his own cum. He’d probably die on the spot. He did up his jeans and reached across to the bedside table, where some tissues were helpfully placed. He grabbed probably a few more than he needed and started wiping his stomach clean.

Markus barely managed to throw the spent tissues into the trash can in the corner and pull his shirt down before Simon walked out, blue dusting his face almost unnoticeably. He closed the door, then turned around only to stop in his tracks. His eyes widened and darted around, avoiding eye contact.

“Uh. Good morning, Markus,” he said, over-saturated cheer in his voice. He smiled a little too widely. The effect was overall completely unconvincing, but Markus had a feeling he didn’t exactly look innocent, either.

Markus nodded back. “Good morning.”

They stared at each other, eyes flitting around the room nervously but always coming back to the other’s.

If the tension was any thicker, they’d be suffocating without needing to breathe.

“So…h-how long have you been awake?”

“Uh, I just woke up,” Markus lied.

“Really?” Simon was exaggerating his expressions a little bit, tilting his head and raising his eyebrows likely in an attempt to sell the bit. “I hope I didn’t wake you.”

“You didn’t. Don’t worry about it.” Goddammit, Markus was doing it too. He shook his head and flashed Simon a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. At least that was a half-truth; Simon didn’t rouse him from standby, but he definitely woke him up in a different way.

Who was he kidding. Markus knew. Simon knew he knew. Markus knew Simon knew he knew. And so forth.

Simon felt trapped by Markus’ eyes. He coughed pointlessly and tore his gaze away, staggering across the room to put his coat and shoes on.

They wouldn’t be able to ignore this forever, that much was certain. But what the hell could Simon say? He couldn't just come out and say 'Hey, remember that time I jerked off in a bathroom because I had a dream about you begging and writhing under me? Yeah, I know you were listening!' He'd self destruct before he could get to 'time'.

When that conversation inevitably did happen, Simon would have to confess to everything, to how he really felt about Markus. He wasn’t ready for that - Markus wouldn’t return his feelings, what reason would he have? He’d done so much more for their people in a week than Simon had done in his life.

Markus was above the likes of him. So he thought.

But what Simon thought couldn’t be further from the truth. The only thing stopping Markus from telling Simon everything he loved about him was the fact that they had bigger things to think about. After they got back to Jericho, after the revolution, when everything was said and done. That’s when Markus would let himself confess.

No sooner than that.

~~And definitely not right after getting off to Simon’s voice. Fucking hell, that was a horrible idea. Why did he do that?~~

Markus stood up and stepped into his shoes. He gave Simon a lingering glance, then shook his head.

“We should go.”

Simon nodded and flipped the hood of his coat up. He opened the door and stepped out of the hotel room, Markus in tow.

This was so _fucked_.


	8. Danger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything seems like it might be okay for five minutes.
> 
> Then everything goes wrong, very rapidly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was like 8.5 pages long in google docs and im so alarmed by whats going on in my own writing now KGFNGI
> 
> but no really how did this go from a discord shitpost to a small crappy oneshot to being relentlessly gay to being angsty to smut and then IMMEDIATELY TO THIS _THIS ISNT WHAT I PLANNED OH GO_
> 
> t. try to enjoy. sorry simon :'3c

Simon had the hood of his jacket flipped up and covering his face the entire time Markus was talking to the morning-shift receptionist.

He wasn’t listening to what they were saying. He was too busy screaming at himself internally.

He should have known Markus would wake up. rA9, Markus was probably disgusted with him now. Why didn’t Markus say something? Would he have preferred Markus interrupted him or this? Simon honestly didn’t know.

This whole thing somehow felt _even worse_ than having his blood harvested for drugs.

A sudden hand on his shoulder jolted Simon out of his thoughts.

“Simon, you okay?” Markus cocked his head and pouted slightly, his voice laced heavily with concern.

Simon couldn’t produce more than a tiny squeak as an answer and stepped out of Markus’ reach.

“Mm! I’m fine,” Simon replied, wincing at his voice being a few octaves too high to sound convincing. He glanced at the receptionist, who seemed to be giving him a look somewhere between confusion and contempt.

But that might have been Simon’s current frame of mind bending his interpretation of things. (Or the fact that her bangs covered a decent chunk of her face.)

He didn’t know and didn’t care.

“…Can we go now?”

Markus reached out for a second, but his hand came back to his side quickly. His eyes flickered between the receptionist and Simon anxiously.

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s go.”

Simon hurried out and held the door open just long enough for Markus to follow him. Simon didn’t look back, but he knew Markus was half-jogging to catch up to him.

“Simon. Simon, wait!”

Markus grabbed Simon’s wrist suddenly, the motion startling him enough to stop walking and pull his arm away without really thinking. He turned around and reluctantly made eye contact with Markus.

His face was heavy with a mixture of emotions Simon couldn’t identify. It was unreadable. His eyes reflected the sunlight and his freckles stood out against his skin more noticeably than they usually did.

~~Fucking hell, he was so attractive Simon wanted to weep.~~

“I…I’m sorry, I just feel like I’ve done something to upset you,” Markus admitted. “I’m worried, is all.”

Simon looked down and wrung his hands restlessly. He didn’t have to say _everything_ , did he?

He sighed. “How can you be so casual after…what I did?”

“What do you mean?” Markus asked, genuinely not certain what the other man was referring to.

“You know what. Don’t make me say it, Markus.”

“The-- This morning?”

“ _Yes!_ You’re acting like…I don’t even know. It’s making me nervous.”

“Simon, I…I didn’t mean to hear anything. I’m sorry.”

“So you _were_ listening. Why didn’t you say anything?!”

Markus opened his mouth, but no words came out. He didn’t have a good answer to that. It was clear by now that Simon didn’t know Markus was just as guilty in this situation, and Markus wasn’t exactly keen on fessing up when there were bigger problems to face.

Quick, think of something convincing.

“I mean, well-- I had the same problem yesterday. What, should I have just not let you do the same thing you let me do?”

“I don’t know! I just…” Simon hid his face in his hands, equal parts embarrassed and frustrated. “I don’t know. I don’t know how to deal with this. We-- Fucking-- Can we talk about this later? When we’re not in such a dire situation? Not now?”

_Or ever,_ Simon thought to himself.

Markus held the bridge of his nose and sighed. Truth be told, he wanted-- _needed_ to talk this over just as much if not more than Simon did. But he was right; this wasn’t the time or place to have this conversation. Jericho wasn’t too far off, and there was still more work to be done for their people.

“Later. Not now,” Markus parroted.

Simon met Markus’ eyes again and gave him a firm nod, then turned on his heel and kept walking, Markus by his side.

They stopped talking, only focused on returning to Jericho. They stood close together, but occasionally one or both of them would pull away, still tense about their own feelings yet unwilling to talk further about them.

But even after one of them drifted, they ended up coming back together a few minutes later. It was a matter of conflict; wanting to be close to each other, but having such strong emotions and feeling so guilty that it didn’t feel appropriate.

Markus decided to steer his attention to everything _but_ this morning. The broadcast had made ripples in the media, but the resistance had been quiet ever since. They had to send a message to the humans, let them know they were still out there, that they still wanted freedom. But what was the best way to go about that?

Simon brushed against him gently.

Markus stepped away again, shaking his head.

Don’t get distracted.

CyberLife had stores all over the city. If they could free their people from those stores, save them from being enslaved and abused like Simon-- like countless members of Jericho had been, they could increase their numbers.

If there were enough of them, maybe the humans would be more inclined to listen to them.

It would be risky, and there’d be a lot of planning involved. Maybe even more than they put into the broadcast.

Simon sighed in Markus’ peripheral vision.

Ignore it.

They would have to split into groups to hit as many stores as possible. There were 38 of them fully operational now, including the androids they’d freed at the CyberLife warehouse and Stratford Tower.

A few groups of two to four sounded good. But not everyone would be willing to endanger themselves like that. He’d have to wait until he got back to Jericho before he could really plan this out.

Simon was staring at him.

Stop thinking about Simon for once!

Don’t look at him. Focus on the big picture. Don’t think about Simon right now. Don’t look at him, don’t think about the way his eyes shine. Don’t think about how much you love him. Don’t think about the way his laugh sounds. Don't think about how his smile could light up rooms. Don’t think about any of it.

Markus was too far gone not to think about it. The only thing he wanted more than Simon was his people’s freedom, and at this point he was inclined to think even that was by the smallest difference. His heart ached at the thought.

It leapt into his throat when Simon grabbed onto his forearm tightly. He heard Simon’s voice in his head, and when he turned to face him, Simon was looking up at him nervously.

_“Cops.”_

Markus looked up ahead of him. Sure enough, two police cars were parked in front of a store with a broken window. Markus could count four officers, and that was only at a glance. Markus’ eyes widened at the sight and he turned his head, wirelessly talking to Simon.

_“Don’t freak out.”_

Simon nodded and stepped closer to Markus. If they looked unassuming enough, maybe they could get by unnoticed--

“‘Scuse me, gentlemen!” one of the policewomen called, waving at them. “Can you answer some questions for us?”

Shit.

Both of them froze in place, exchanging concerned glances.

_“Maybe it’s not about androids,”_ Markus communicated in an effort to reassure Simon.

He looked unconvinced, but he cautiously walked over to the officers with Markus. He would have held his hand to try and soothe his worry, but he already felt like he crossed a line just grabbing his arm.

“Sorry to disturb you, gents. We’re looking for people who may know something about the robbery that happened at about 10:40 last night.”

Markus tried not to look visibly relieved.

“Sorry, officer. We weren’t even aware a robbery happened here last night. We’re in a bit of a hurry, so if that’s all--”

The officer leaned in closer to Markus, studying his face.

“I’m sorry sir, it’s just…you seem familiar. Have I seen you before?”

If Markus had a stomach, it would have dropped. He shook his head.

“I don’t think we’ve met. I don't recognise you.”

“Nah, it’s your voice I think.”

The policewoman’s eyes widened.

“Hang on a moment, sir,” she murmured, turning around to address her colleague.

“Jackson! Shit, not you. The other one! _Detective_ Jackson!”

“What?”

“Give me your color-seeing eyes for a second, will ya?”

Markus felt his stress spike up. He took a tiny step closer to Simon, brushing against him just enough to try and calm himself down. The other officer sauntered over and looked down at his coworker.

“What is it, Stancliffe?”

“What colour are these guys eyes?”

Oh shit. Shit, shit, shit.

_“Markus, they’re going to figure it out,”_ Simon started to panic. _“We can’t stay here, we need to run. Now.”_

_“You’re still hurt, and they’ll call for backup as soon as we try.”_

_“We can’t let them arrest us! They’re going to kill us, we have to go before it’s too late. Please, Markus.”_

“His left eye’s green and his right one’s blue. What, you want me to tell you what color the sky is next?” Jackson said bluntly, giving Stancliffe an unimpressed look.

Stancliffe’s face lit up with shock and excitement.

“I knew it! The-- The Channel 16 android!”

FUCK.

Simon acted on impulse. He swung his fist into Stancliffe’s ear hard enough to make her cry out, then elbowed Jackson in the face. They both staggered backwards. That wouldn’t buy them any time. It was just lucky they didn’t have guns on them.

“Run!” Simon hollered, grabbing Markus by the front of his sweatshirt and dragging him forward as he charged as fast as he physically could in the other direction.

“Simon, what--?!”

“I said _run!_ ”

That’s what it took for Markus’ brain to kick into high gear. He started sprinting down the block and didn’t stop until Simon’s grip slipped and he fell behind. Markus turned around sharply, not even hesitating before he scooped Simon up into a bridal carry and continued running.

Simon yelped in surprise, but he was too focused on mentally screaming _get the fuck away from here_ to be embarrassed. They didn’t need to look back to guess that more cops would show up soon.

Markus ran out into a populated street, hoping to lose the cops. He heard humans exclaim as he forced them out of his way. Simon wrapped his arms around Markus’ neck and looked behind them. The civilians were just leaping out of the way of them and the police, watching the chase unfold. The officer in the lead began to draw his gun.

“They’ve got guns, Markus!” he warned, tightening his grip.

“Oh my god, really?!”

“Now isn’t the time for sarcasm!”

“It’s not--!”

A bullet whizzed past Simon’s foot. Markus came to a screeching halt and changed directions, running into a less populated one-way street. His eyes darted around rapidly and settled on a low rooftop. He lifted Simon up towards it.

“Get up!”

Simon lifted himself up to the roof and looked back down at Markus. Just as the police rounded the corner, Markus took a running leap at the wall, lunging and just barely managing to hold onto the roof. Simon held his hand out to help Markus up the wall. He heard another gunshot and paled when Markus climbed up with blue blood staining his calf. He picked himself up and helped Simon to his feet.

“I’m fine. We can’t stop here!”

“If we head straight for Jericho, they’ll keep up with us. We’ll put everyone at risk!” Simon exclaimed, barely even trying to conceal his panic.

Markus scanned the surrounding area. Jericho was twenty minutes away walking, maybe five or ten running. But Simon was right, they couldn’t take the risk of going there immediately. They had to lose the cops, first. If they could keep themselves on the rooftops for long enough, maybe they could buy time.

It was absolute lunacy, but what other choice did they have? Markus explained his plan to Simon and turned around.

“Get on my back and _do not_ let go!” he ordered.

Simon hesitated for only a split second before he complied, wrapping his arms again around Markus’ neck, his legs around his waist. Markus took off running as soon as he felt Simon was secure. Simon held on for dear life as Markus jumped to and climbed the fire escape of a taller building. He screwed his eyes shut and whimpered.

He was terrified. Of dying so close to Jericho, of being caught, but mostly of Markus getting hurt to save him.

Markus focused on climbing and jumping as far as he could with Simon on his back. He didn’t have enough time to preconstruct his routes properly, and he was getting disoriented. Had he already crossed this roof? Could he make this jump?

He heard police sirens from the ground, officers climbing onto the rooftops and yelling to each other, Simon’s panicked breathing in his ear. He felt his heart pounding in his chest, the dull throb in the back of his leg where the bullet had grazed him.

It was anarchy, and he couldn’t see a way out of it.

They couldn’t begin to guess how much time they spent running around like headless chickens. The police had called in reinforcements, and at this point they were practically coming out of the woodwork. Markus couldn’t keep this up forever. He may have infinite stamina, but the cops were backing them into a corner and he knew it.

Just as they landed on one of the last buildings they hadn’t traversed yet, the roof access burst open. Two officers and an android rushed out. One of the officers drew his gun in a split second and shot Markus in the shoulder, causing him to collapse and Simon to come down with him.

“ _Markus!!_ ” Simon yelled, his stress skyrocketing as he noticed thirium that definitely wasn’t his staining his chest. He clambered off of Markus’ back and dragged him behind a vent.

Fear clouded Simon’s judgement and he pulled Markus into his arms, holding him like a lifeline. Markus reached up above him and brought a hand to Simon’s face.

“Simon…”

He heard footsteps running across the roof. Simon snapped his head up and held on tighter. He’d sooner sacrifice himself than let them take Markus.

Simon observed the immediate area. They’d made it to the roof of a building that overlooked a large body of water. He couldn't see the bottom. Maybe, just maybe, they could escape if they jumped.

It was astronomically risky. Simon’s chest injury was never fully healed, and the water was almost certainly freezing. There was a very real chance that he would short out if he spent longer than a few seconds in there.

The footsteps stopped, the android standing over them. He raised his arm and revealed that he was armed.

"I've been ordered to take you alive. But I won't hesitate to shoot either of you if you give me no choice."

Simon made up his mind. He would rather die with Markus than give up here.

He dragged himself backwards, the android's gun trained on them.

He squeezed his eyes shut, clung tightly to Markus, and rolled off the side of the building with him.

Simon felt weightless for a few seconds as they fell. The realisation hit him that he had basically just sealed his own fate.

He might never see his people liberated. He might never see his old family again.

He subconsciously tightened his hold on Markus.

_Markus_. If he was safe, if only he could get back to Jericho, he would be able to see it all. He would save their people. He would be able to see Carl again. One day he would be able to live free.

For that, at least, Simon could be at peace with himself if these were his last moments.

They collided with the water, plummeting until they could see nothing but inky-green around them. Warnings flashed in Simon’s vision and he felt electricity crackling in his chest.

**WARNING: SYSTEM TEMPERATURE CRITICAL  
WATER LEVEL CRITICAL: SHUTDOWN IMMINENT  
ENGAGING FORCED STANDBY MODE  
ALL NON-VITAL BIOCOMPONENTS SHUTTING DOWN...**


	9. The Breaking Point

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Markus gives it his all to try and save Simon's life.
> 
> The tension between them reaches its tipping point.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me: man the last chapter was the longest one yet!  
> this chapter: hold my beer
> 
> its fuckin late when im posting this and i have to get up early tomorrow so im just going to spit this out and hope for the best JGIFNGKFGN

Cold.

That’s all Markus could feel. Warnings about the temperature and biocomponents being damaged appeared in his vision faster than he could dispel them. His attention was redirected when he felt himself sliding out of Simon’s grasp. He spun around as quickly as he could in the water and saw the faint silhouette of his companion starting to sink deeper into the abyss. 

Simon’s injury.

Oh _shit_.

In a panic, he grabbed Simon by the hood of his coat and frantically swam upwards.

He hauled Simon up out of the water as much as he could while still supporting himself. He dragged them both across to the closest surface he could find, an outcropping made of cobblestone. He practically threw Simon onto it, then pulled himself up, just barely making it out of the water before he sustained critical damage.

He took a closer look at Simon and rolled his limp body to face him.

“S-Simon?”

No response. His eyes were closed, his lips were turning blue, and a quick scan of his body told him exactly what he didn’t want to hear.

**SYSTEM TEMPERATURE: 29.6°  
7:00 UNTIL SHUTDOWN**

“No! Simon! _Simon!!_ ”

Markus felt his eyes watering, his stress levels rising. He couldn’t let Simon die here. Not after everything they’d been through. Everything Simon had been through. Dying such a lonely, avoidable death because of Markus would just be cruel to both of them.

Markus lifted Simon into his arms and stood up, ignoring his own injuries, both from the chase and from the water.

He scanned the area. He was completely turned around. Jericho was how far? Ten minutes? Thirty? An hour and twenty? His system was giving him conflicting responses and he was too focused on Simon’s safety to give a shit. It was too far to get there before Simon shut down.

There were a few storage containers he could barely see from the surface he was standing on. If he could open one, maybe he could at least get Simon out of the cold. But that wouldn’t get rid of the water in his system.

An idea struck him. It had a low chance of success, but Simon was too important to him to not try it.

He carried Simon into a (for some reason, already open) storage container and put him down, lying against the wall. The inside of the container was rusty and full of moldy wooden pallets and canvas scraps. Markus rummaged through the pile desperately, flinging aside useless scrap. It was all too damp or damaged to be useful. He swore and felt his stress spike again.

He kneeled in front of Simon and stripped him from the waist up. He put his hand against Simon’s broken chest, raising his internal temperature as much as he could without actively setting himself on fire. He tried to fight back the regret he felt at invading Simon’s privacy.

There were four minutes left before Simon shut down permanently. Markus’ body heat wouldn't be enough like this. He would have to open Simon’s chest up outright to have any hope of drying out his circuitry in time.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered to the unconscious man before deactivating the skin on his chest and clicking open his chest panel. Simon’s face twitched a little at the motion, but Markus wasn’t sure if it was him waking up or just a glitch.

He could see the damage a lot better now. Simon’s heart was glowing red and beating rapidly, struggling to keep thirium running through his body. Markus pushed Simon forward until water leaked out of his chest in a steady stream. He rolled Simon over so his head was resting in Markus’ lap, both of Markus’ hands hovering over his biocomponents.

Three minutes before Simon would shut down. Markus felt his heart hammering in his chest, and he might have been crying. He wasn’t sure. He didn’t care.

“Please wake up…Simon, _please don't go…_ ”

A minute passed. Simon was still unresponsive. He was going to die, and it would be Markus’ fault. He wasn’t sure he could live with that. His stress was almost critically high as it was.

Markus was growing desperate. He rested his hands directly on Simon's components. If nothing else, his temperature was rising back into acceptable levels. But that alone wouldn’t be enough.

One minute until he shut down. He knew it was an invasion of privacy, but the situation was so dire he didn’t care, and started to move his hands deeper into Simon’s chest to dry him out more directly.

He was definitely crying.

“Simon, wake up! Please don’t go, Simon, _please!_ Don’t…don’t leave…”

Markus felt the exact moment his heart broke. He hardly cared about how much he'd done for Jericho - in this moment, when he felt like he was going to let down the man who meant everything to him, he felt utterly powerless.

Markus broke down in silent tears, and they rained down on Simon’s cheeks, his eyelids, his nose, his mouth.

Fifteen seconds. Fifteen seconds and it’s all over. Markus sobbed harder, held his hands more insistently against Simon like it would somehow make the process faster. He pulled Simon closer, desperation overwhelming him completely.

Ten seconds.

Six seconds.

…

Simon opened his eyes.

His entire body convulsed and he began gasping and spluttering. Even more water escaped him, running down the side of his face. Markus felt his components jolting back to life, tightening around his hands. Simon didn’t even seem to notice, too busy retching, trying to expel the water from his system.

“Mar…kus?” he rasped out, voice weak and laced with static.

Markus let out a shaky sob of relief. He pulled Simon even closer into the closest thing resembling a hug he could manage, considering their awkward position and the fact that Markus’ hands were now trapped by Simon's mechanisms working hard to bring his systems back online.

“Th-Thank god! I thought…I-I thought…” he sniffled, unable to finish his sentence. Simon tried to lift his arms up and return the hug, but he was still too weak. He settled for nodding his head.

“I thought so, too.”

Markus kept weeping and held Simon like he would vanish if he let go. He didn't speak, only swayed back and forth mostly to calm himself down than anything.

A few moments of silence passed before Simon felt like he could speak and grew aware of his position.

“Markus?”

“Mm?”

“Can you get your hands out of my chest?”

Markus became aware that the pressure on his hands had lessened, and he could retrieve his hands. His face flushed.

“Right, right. Sorry,” he said, moving to pull his hands out gently. Simon clenched his teeth at the feeling.

“Rgh--!”

“Sorry! I’m-I’m sorry,” Markus stuttered, terrified of breaking Simon when he was already so damaged.

Simon shook his head and took a few deep breaths.

“I’m okay, I’m okay. It just feels…”

Simon couldn’t describe it. Uncomfortable, but not at the same time. Weirdly pleasant in a way, actually. Simon decided not to read into that.

“Invasive?” Markus suggested.

“I guess. Don’t worry about me, I’m okay.”

“Should I just pull them out faster so it’s done or would that hurt you?”

“I don’t care, I just want your hands out of my body.”

~~Fuck if that wasn’t the biggest lie Simon’s ever told.~~

Markus held his breath and yanked his hands fast, a strangled yelp escaping Simon as his body seized. The familiar pressure of something that would have hurt if he had the capacity to feel pain spread through his chest in seconds, and Simon found himself biting his lip to stop himself from making more embarrassing noises.

~~Fucking hell, don’t get turned on _now_ of all times. What the hell is wrong with you?~~

With a little more effort, Markus freed his hands entirely and the pressure subsided. Simon whimpered pathetically and hoped Markus would assume it was from pain and not…something else.

Simon shook away the fog that threatened to consume his mind and slowly rose into a sitting position. He closed his chest cavity and looked around, taking in his surroundings and trying to figure out where they were. His eyes landed on his clothes and he snatched them off the floor of the storage container, suddenly feeling very self-conscious.

As soon as he’d finished re-dressing himself, Markus pulled him into a proper hug. Simon reciprocated immediately, squeezing Markus tight and sighing shakily. Markus continued to rock them both side to side and raised a hand to stroke Simon's hair. Neither of them spoke.

After a little while, Markus pulled back enough to speak.

“That was really stupid,” Markus whispered into Simon’s ear, the closeness of his voice making him shiver and his face flush a little.

~~Why was Markus so goddamn attractive even when he was scolding him?~~

“Wh-What was?”

Markus pulled back from the hug a little more to look at Simon directly.

“Jumping off a building when you knew you were going to short out. Why did you do that?”

Simon released a huffed laugh and glanced down at the floor.

It would be so easy to say right now, wouldn’t it? A simple ‘because I love you,’ and it wouldn’t be a problem anymore.

But the words were caught in his throat. He couldn’t let himself say it.

He felt Markus’ hand come up to rest on his cheek, wiping away a tear he didn’t know was there. Neither of them knew who it belonged to.

Markus tilted Simon’s face gently to look up at him, sapphire eyes falling on seaweed green and ocean blue.

“Why did you do it?” he repeated.

“Because… I don’t know,” Simon lied.

Markus was unconvinced. His eyes flickered down to Simon’s hand hanging at his side. On an impulse from nowhere, he moved to take Simon’s hand in his. He could swear that the closer his hand got to Simon’s, the more translucent the skin on their hands became.

When they finally made contact, the skin up to their forearms disappeared and made way to plastic white.

His eyes locked with Simon’s as he was suddenly bombarded with sights he never saw, words he never heard.

_“PL600, register your name.” A facility with a blue carpet and ads plastered on the walls. A boy with olive skin and curly black hair beaming up at him._

_“Simon!”_

Words he never spoke.

_“My name is Simon.”_

These were _Simon’s_ memories. More and more of them came pouring into Markus’ head, one after another.

_“Simon, please do the dishes? Thank you!” A woman with dark skin and kind eyes._

_“I want to tell you something. But you can’t tell Mom and Dad, okay? I’m…not a boy.” Muted feelings. Concern. Protectiveness._

_“I lost my job to an android?! What will I tell Claudia…?”_

_The sight of a man with greying hair coming at him with a lamp. The feeling of betrayal as it made contact._

_“Quit resisting, you plastic bitch!” Fear. Anger. A red wall, desperation as he kicked and pushed and struggled against it, like he was clawing his way out of a grave._

_Screaming. Not sure if it was Simon or someone else. Staring down at hands stained blue and red, the same man with his head hidden from view by a battered and blood-soaked cabinet door. More fear. Stronger than it was before deviancy._

_A familiar looking rusty boat. Emotional exhaustion. An unfamiliar android offering him thirium. Hopelessness. Fear._

_Countless androids shutting down in front of him. Guilt. Regret._

_Someone falling from a catwalk, gripping a flashlight. Concern._

Markus saw his own face through Simon’s eyes.

_Rain. Fear mixed with excitement._

_“A truckload! We stole a whole truckload!” Joy. Elation. Respect._

_“If we want freedom, we need to have the courage to ask for it!” Curiosity. A bit of reluctance. Something else?_

_Stumbling onto a roof, wounded. Anxiety. Distress._

_“Simon, I’m going to pick you up. Hold onto me, alright?” Confusion. Desperation. Panic._

_“It’s alright! Keep holding onto me as tight as you can, alright?” Calmness covering the anxiety. Respect._

_A realisation._

Their hands retreated at the same time. Simon’s expression mirrored Markus’, eyes wide and jaw dropped.

Simon loved him back.

Holy shit, _he loved him back._

Simon’s mouth opened and closed pointlessly a few times. His words were stuck.

“I saw your memories,” Markus said, awestruck.

Simon nodded. “So did I…”

“You…love me.”

Simon was taken aback. He hadn't seen enough of Markus’ memories to see his feelings were returned. 

“Yo-You saw--?!” he stammered, starting to move away from Markus, but a strong grip on his upper arms prevented him. Markus looked directly into his eyes, looking completely dumbfounded.

“You love me _back_.”

Simon's breath caught in his throat.

“I…what?”

Markus moved a hand to Simon’s chin, tipping his head up.

“Simon, I had so many feelings. So much to say to you, but no idea how to put it into words. But I get it now. I…lo-love you. I love you,” Markus repeated, internally cursing himself for getting tongue-tied.

Simon’s mind stopped in its tracks. He couldn't process what Markus just said. He hadn't allowed himself to. He'd never let himself entertain the thought that Markus might return his feelings. He shook his head, more of a twitch than anything.

“Th-There's no way. There's no way. Are you serious?”

Markus gently took Simon’s hands in his. Simon didn't resist, allowing Markus to raise their hands up between them.

“I'm serious,” he affirmed. He deactivated his skin again, but left Simon’s alone. He was giving him a choice. “Let me show you.”

Simon swallowed hard and looked at their joined hands. After just a few moments of hesitation, he deactivated the skin on his own hands, interfacing with Markus once again.

They felt everything the other had to offer. Simon felt Markus’ inner conflict, the pain of not knowing what he felt or why. The emotional overload that struck him when he finally realised, the desire and need to protect Simon at all costs. The conflict of having to focus on the revolution but being so drawn to Simon at the same time. The fear when he thought they were cornered and Simon was the one to save him, the heartbreak he felt just moments ago when when he thought Simon was going to die because of him.

Markus felt the turmoil Simon had been in for the past few days they’d spent together. His yearning for Markus to be safe, to return his feelings, to claim him as his own in every way. His heart and mind at war with each other, going back and forth between being head over heels and not wanting to set himself up for heartbreak. The amount of strength it took to finally talk about his past and let himself be vulnerable. The clashing feelings of existential fear and confidence that he'd made the right decision in sacrificing himself for Markus.

Their hands separated again. Both of them were brought close to tears by the sheer amount of feeling they’d experienced through each other. They held eye contact, at the same time silently wondering the same thing, if the other had felt it all, and answering the question themselves.

Yes, he had, and he wanted to feel more.

Markus raised his hand to cup Simon’s neck, unconsciously leaning in closer to him with hooded eyes. Simon held Markus’ cheeks, staring at his lips.

Neither one of them was sure who initiated it, but they came together desperately, clinging to each other like they would be separated if they let go for even a second. The kiss was rushed and full of emotion and their teeth clashed against each other, but they didn’t even care. This wasn't unlike their first kiss, but there was so much more meaning behind it. More feeling, more want, more _need_ to be close to each other.

Simon felt Markus’ tongue press against his lips, a request for access. Simon hummed and parted his lips, tilting his head and deepening the kiss. He crawled into Markus’ lap and moved one of his hands to the back of his head, feeling Markus’ shaved hair and pressing his own tongue into Markus’ mouth. Markus groaned in response and felt Simon shudder on top of him.

If an android could be kissed breathless, both of them would be drowning. This feeling, this impossible closeness, the tension between them finally unravelling - they found it absolutely intoxicating.

Markus found himself being lowered onto his back as their kiss got heavier. He broke the kiss, chest rising and falling rapidly. His face felt hot, and he knew he was blushing.

“I want you,” Markus panted. Simon responded by leaning in for another kiss and grinding his hips against Markus, both of them gasping at the sensation. Simon broke away and whispered low in Markus’ ear.

“Then have me.”

Fuck it all. Jericho could wait for ten more minutes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter is probably going to be the last one and im Sad but im not surprised because im a new writer and hopefully if i keep honing my craft i'll be able to crank out more than 10 chapters for something!!!! B)
> 
> im fucking stuck on the next scene dnfjgfraiej so its gonna take a long-ass phuckin time to post but ive technically already written the finale so if im stuck for longer than a week ill just revise the old version ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> im pumped yo!!!!!!!!


	10. Unleft

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Markus and Simon make up for lost time.
> 
> They finally return to Jericho, and find it hard to explain what took them so long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FREAKY! ROBOT! SEX!
> 
> this chapter? LITERALLY the longest one. you're Fucking welcome
> 
> also i considered naming this chapter "Skip Here If You're Just Looking For Porn" because i didnt have a clue what to call it so i ended up naming it after the song i was listening to @ the time, thank GOD it wasnt some meme song from a gen-z nostalgia playlist NGKFNGK
> 
> also No Proofreading, We Publish and Go To Sleep Like Men

“Oh god… Markus, _please…_ ”

The two of them had rolled over again during their activities, Markus now straddling Simon. Markus currently had Simon’s wrists pinned with one of his hands, the other palming him through his pants. He kissed down Simon’s neck, occasionally daring to nip at the synthetic flesh. Simon shuddered at a particularly hard bite and bucked into Markus’ hand.

Markus pulled away and looked down at Simon, eyes blown wide with lust.

“What do you want?” he whispered, pressing a little harder against Simon’s groin. The movement made Simon throw his head back and unsuccessfully stifle a moan.

“I want… Kiss me l-lower, shit…”

“If you ask nicely, I’ll think about it,” Markus teased.

“You asshole,” Simon chuckled quietly.

Markus’ expression suddenly turned cold. “Or we could stop entirely.”

“No! No, please don’t stop, Markus, shit. Please kiss me, please,” he babbled.

Markus chuckled to himself. They’d hardly even started, but Simon was already so eager, so responsive. He wondered for a moment if he was always like this, or if it was something about Markus. Seeing Simon like this, his friend, the man he respected and cared about so much, unravelling beneath him was something he’d only ever imagined.

The real thing was _almost_ too much.

Markus leaned in to steal another kiss from Simon’s lips, then moved down to his neck again, targeting the sweet spots that got the most reaction out of the other man, licking and sucking until there were darkening blue marks on his neck.

Simon cried out and bucked his hips involuntarily as Markus bit his pulse point, then licked over the affected area as an apology.

“Markus! Markus, oh god-- More, _please,_ ” he begged.

He sucked harder on Simon’s neck and squeezed his wrists in an effort to draw his attention there.

 _“Keep them there,”_ he communicated.

He felt Simon nod above him and moved both of his hands to slide under Simon’s shirt. Simon shivered and groaned at the feeling of Markus’ nails raking up and down his sides. He felt Markus smile against his throat.

Markus lifted Simon’s shirt until his chest was exposed. He nipped Simon’s neck one more time before he moved down and placed a gentle kiss on his chest, right above where his pump regulator would be, one of his thumbs brushing against Simon’s nipple.

“ _Ngh!_ Do that again. P-Please,” Simon whimpered, clenching his fists and trying desperately not to move his hands.

Markus was merciful (and desperate himself) enough to acquiesce, brushing across Simon’s nipple again and rolling it between his thumb and forefinger. He heard Simon let out a shaky whimper.

“That feel good?” Markus asked, despite already knowing the answer.

“What do you thi-- _Jesus!_ M-Markus, _fuuh…_ ”

Because Markus suddenly ran his tongue across Simon’s other nipple and blew cold air across it. Simon’s entire body quaked underneath him at the simple action, and Markus felt a strong wave of pride. He repeated the motion again, then wrapped his lips around the nipple, sucking hard and flicking his tongue against the erect bud. He revelled in the high-pitched whine that escaped Simon, who was digging his nails into the palms of his hands so hard the skin was starting to recede from the pressure.

Simon was shaking like a leaf, putting every ounce of focus into staying still, fighting the urge to touch Markus or buck his hips. Sparks of pleasure spread through his body as Markus continued his ministrations with his tongue and fingers, occasionally switching positions or biting gently. It took everything Simon had not to scream.

They’d hardly done anything and he felt like he was going to burst, and Markus could tell. He brought his lips and hands further down Simon’s torso, nipping across his stomach and quickly running his tongue across the purely aesthetic bellybutton. He eventually moved down to where Simon’s v-line disappeared into his pants and licked his hip tantalisingly slowly.

“ _Markuuus,_ please!” Simon pleaded. It almost sounded like he was about to cry from frustration. Markus raised his head, concerned.

“You okay?” he asked, cocking his head slightly. It was the first time in a little bit that he’d gotten a good look at Simon.

His eyes were glazed and almost completely black, only the tiniest slivers of stormy blue still visible. His face and chest were flushed blue and there were dark bruises littering his neck and chest, newer ones forming on his tummy. He’d moved his hands, but still had just enough restraint to keep them away from Markus, instead grabbing fistfuls of his own hair.

He looked utterly _debauched._

Simon nodded his head quickly. “Yes! I’m fine, I need you. I need you so bad, Markus, please…”

“What do you want me to do?”

“I don’t even know, just give me more. I’m _begging_ you, give me more…”

Markus almost lost his composure right there. He lowered his head again and pulled Simon’s pants and boxers about halfway down his thighs. Simon nearly sobbed at the relief of no longer being constrained.

Simon jolted and cried out when he felt Markus’ hand wrap around his member, giving it a few slow, strong pumps. His back arched and a trembling moan escaped him as Markus experimented with his pace and grip. He eventually settled on a pace that was just barely fast enough, squeezing the head on every upstroke and flicking his wrist in a way that tore the most delicious sounds from Simon’s lips.

Tears overflowed from Simon’s eyes when Markus swiped his tongue across the tip, licking off the considerable amount of precum that was leaking out. Simon was almost at the end of his rope, his hands tightening in his hair so much he’d be worried about pulling it out if he were human.

Markus continued to experiment with what he could do to Simon’s cock. He licked a stripe up the underside, taking note of the way Simon’s entire body shivered when he licked right beneath the head. He swirled his tongue around the head a couple of times, but never took it into his mouth, instead choosing to lick up and down the shaft, teasing.

He smiled at the broken, desperate noise that escaped Simon when he pinned his hips down, preventing him from thrusting into Markus’ mouth.

“Markus, for _fucks_ sake! Please stop teasing, I can’t take it anymore!”

Simon could barely finish his sentence before Markus finally, _finally_ took him down his throat. He took about half of it in one go, releasing Simon’s hip to take care of what couldn’t fit in his mouth. He slowly started to bob his head, setting a gentle pace as he adjusted to Simon’s girth.

Simon was rapidly losing patience, completely foregoing Markus’ order to keep his hands still and moving to pinch and massage his nipples. Markus’ mouth felt so warm, so tight whenever he swallowed around his length, it should have been illegal.

It wasn’t long before he felt himself getting close. He lowered a hand to the back of Markus’ head, running his nails through his hair as encouragement.

“Ohh fu-uck, Mar-Markus, _Markus--!_ ”

Markus pulled himself off of Simon’s dick, licking his lips to break the string of spit and precum that connected his lips to the head. Simon groaned in the back of his throat as he felt himself coming down from the edge, throbbing and unsatisfied. Markus leaned over Simon and kissed him almost innocently, and he could taste himself on Markus’ tongue.

“I thought I told you not to move,” Markus frowned, his swollen lips and the hoarseness of his voice the only evidence that he’d just had Simon’s cock shoved down his throat.

Something about that struck a chord in Simon.

In the blink of an eye, Markus was grabbed by the front of his shirt and pushed until he was sitting against the wall of the storage container. Simon straddled him and pulled him into a bruising kiss, forcing his tongue past Markus’ lips. Markus was torn between yelping in surprise and moaning at the feeling of Simon’s tongue ravaging his mouth.

When Simon broke away, both of them were panting heavily despite not needing air.

“What part of ‘stop teasing’ don’t you get?” Simon growled. His aggressive tone was somewhat diminished by the fact that his face was completely blue and he was completely breathless and bucking his hips uncontrollably.

Still, Simon taking control was way hotter than it had any right to be. Markus was now acutely aware of how neglected his own dick felt, twitching desperately in his jeans.

Markus didn’t have a chance to reply before Simon forced his head back, exposing his throat, and covering him in harsh kisses, biting and sucking like he was trying to drain the life out of Markus through his neck, scraping his teeth against it almost hard enough to make the skin recede.

He pulled Markus’ sweatshirt down and kissed his collarbone, ripping a gasp out of him. Markus felt him smirk against his skin and keened when he felt Simon press his teeth hard against his collarbone.

“Fuck, Simon,” he huffed, thrusting his hips against Simon’s. Markus felt Simon bite his collarbone _hard_ and threw his head back, an embarrassing moan escaping his lips.

Simon pulled away and climbed off of Markus. Markus tried to stop him, pull him back, but Simon smacked his hands away.

“Simon, come on,” Markus pleaded, already missing the feeling of Simon’s body against him.

“If you ask nicely, I’ll think about it,” Simon echoed, smirking slightly. He yanked his shoes off, followed quickly by his pants and underwear. He leaned over to undo Markus’ jeans, fumbling with the zipper and forcefully pulling them down until they were bunched around one of his ankles. He didn’t even bother taking them all the way off.

Markus really _had_ underestimated how badly Simon wanted this.

Simon licked his palm and took Markus’ cock in his hand, roughly jerking him off as Markus shuddered and arched his back.

“Oh, fuck!”

Markus almost reached out to grab Simon, but he caught himself when Simon shot him a glare and a wireless demand not to touch him until he said so. He bit his lip and blushed hard at the high-pitched sounds that threatened to escape him. Masturbation was one thing, but someone else touching him, _Simon_ touching him, sent so much feeling through his body he was surprised he could still focus on anything else.

Fortunately for Markus, Simon didn’t have the patience required to tease him. He climbed back into Markus’ lap and held his other hand up to his mouth, two fingers prodding at Markus’ lips. A silent command which Markus picked up on, sucking Simon’s fingers into his mouth and lapping at them hungrily. Simon growled at the sight of Markus taking his fingers eagerly, the feeling of Markus’ tongue against his fingertips.

He started to thrust his fingers shallowly in time with the strokes of his wrist. Markus let out a muffled whimper, almost trembling, trying not to move his hips and chase the addictive friction. Simon brought a third finger to Markus’ mouth, slowly pushing it past Markus’ lips.

Simon’s fingers eventually hit the back of his throat, making Markus gag. He thanked every deity he could think of that he didn’t actually need to breathe and just kept sucking and licking at Simon’s fingers, encouraging the other man to move his fingers to the back of his throat on every thrust. His eyes threatened to roll into the back of his head as his gag reflex kept getting triggered.

Something about this was doing a lot more for him than he’d expected.

He let out a choked moan and heard Simon hum appreciatively, tightening his grip on Markus’ dick.

“You’re really into this, huh?” Simon noted. Markus moaned again, and would’ve nodded if he could.

Simon pushed his fingers as far back into Markus’ throat as he could manage before pulling them out entirely and letting go of Markus’ length. Markus coughed and took some wheezy breaths, moaning quietly. He couldn’t focus his eyes properly, but he knew Simon was smirking at his disheveled expression. Admiring his work.

He leaned in to kiss Markus, which he returned needily. When they parted, a trail of saliva connected their lips and Markus whined, the kiss ending too soon for him.

“S-Simon…” he begged, his voice croaky and barely there.

“Hmm?” The coquettishness in Simon’s voice was almost insufferable.

“Le-- Please let me fuck you, oh my god…”

Simon pressed another quick kiss to Markus’ lips.

“I think you can do better than that.”

“Please ride me, Simon! Shit, I need you so bad, I need to be inside you, fuck, please, _pleaseletmefuckyou,_ fuck, Simon, _please!_ ”

And fuck if that didn’t go right to Simon’s dick. He swore and kissed Markus again as a reward.

 _“You can touch me now,”_ Simon assented. Markus’ hands immediately flew to Simon’s back, grabbing onto his coat and kissing him back fiercely.

Simon moved closer to Markus and rolled his hips against his, both of them groaning into each other’s mouths at the feeling of their cocks rubbing together. He repeated the motion a few times until Markus broke the kiss and threw his head back against the wall, chest heaving.

“ _Please._ ”

He spoke so quietly that he might as well have been mouthing the word, but it was enough for Simon to relent and lift his hips until he felt the head of Markus’ cock against his entrance. He moved his hands to Markus’ shoulders and kissed him hard as he sank down, drinking the absurdly loud cry of pleasure that escaped his lover.

(Would preparation have helped? Probably, but Simon could self-lubricate, and frankly, he was too desperate to bother waiting any longer.)

Markus dug his nails into Simon’s jacket as he slid further down onto Markus’ length. His entire body was shaking. Simon was so impossibly warm and tight, _so damn tight_ around him, he couldn’t think straight.

Both of them let out shaky noises of relief when Simon was fully seated on Markus’ cock. Markus’ hands moved to Simon’s hips, keeping him in place. He felt like if Simon moved even a bit, he’d unravel right there.

They parted lips again, looking into each other’s eyes, studying each other’s faces. They were both panting and heaving, taking in breaths they technically didn’t need. Markus was starting to sweat, a last-ditch effort to stop himself overheating. Their bodies were flushed, Simon in particular had his entire face and what could be seen of his chest colored a nice shade of aquamarine.

“I love you,” Simon whispered, moving his hands to the sides of Markus’ face and kissing him gently on the lips, on his cheeks, on his eyelids. “I love you so much. You’re so perfect, Markus. So good to me. So good.”

Markus keened at the praise and rested his head on Simon’s shoulder. He took one of Simon’s hands away from his face and intertwined their fingers, shedding the skin on his hand. Simon took the message and did the same, opening a connection full of love and lust and heat and _need,_ so much need Simon gasped sharply and clenched around Markus, extracting a broken moan from the other man.

“Simon! Simon, Simon, oh god, shit, _wai--_ ”

He cut himself off with a loud cry and rolled his hips into Simon hard. Simon broke the connection out of shock and wrapped his arms around Markus’ shoulders. He felt Markus quaking beneath him and heard him repeating “I’m sorry” in a small voice as something hot filled Simon.

“Did…you just…?”

Markus nodded weakly and pressed his face into Simon’s shoulder out of embarrassment.

“’m sorry,” he repeated quietly.

“Hey, it’s okay. Normal, even. And we’ve got theoretically infinite stamina for a reason,” Simon assured, rubbing soothing circles onto Markus’ back.

“But doesn’t it still take a few minutes to get hard again?”

“A few minutes before you’re able to cum again. But overstimulation can feel good, too.”

Markus lifted his head and looked up at Simon.

“How so?”

“If you’d let me, I’d be more than willing to demonstrate,” Simon offered, his voice dropping into a low and sultry cadence.

Markus let out a little huff of a laugh and nodded.

“Um, okay then. D-Do your worst.”

Simon’s hand came to Markus’ face one more time. “Tell me if you need me to stop.”

With that, Simon picked his hips up and sank back down, shuddering at the feeling and smiling when Markus leaned his head back into the wall and opened his mouth in a silent groan. He repeated the motion slowly, mostly to give himself time to adjust, but also to watch Markus’ face contort in pleasure. His eyes fluttered shut and his swollen lips were stretched in a small ‘O’, clearly trying unsuccessfully to compute the sheer _feeling_ of everything.

Simon eventually picked up his pace, bouncing on Markus’ cock fast and digging his fingers into the back of Markus’ sweatshirt. He felt Markus move his hands to his hips, and yelped when Markus thrusted his hips to meet Simon’s.

“Shit! Markus, do that again,” Simon gasped.

Markus did as he was told, slamming his hips into Simon’s forcefully, but clearly still trying to hold back. Simon buried his face in Markus’ neck and panted heavily, losing himself to the pleasure, the feeling of being so impossibly connected to Markus.

He planted a kiss to Markus’ neck, then another. He started sucking more marks onto the dark skin, only focused on claiming Markus as his own and moving his hips in tandem with his lover’s.

A particularly harsh thrust of Markus’ hips had Simon reeling, instinctively biting hard on Markus’ neck to muffle the absurdly loud moan that would have come out.

“Fuck! Are-Are you okay?” Markus groaned.

Simon nodded vigorously. “Yes! Keep-- _nnh,_ keep doing that, Markus!”

“Are you s-sure? I don’t want-- _oh shit--_ I don’t want to hur-hurt you.”

Simon dug his nails into Markus’ back and lifted his hips up until only the head of Markus’ dick was inside him, then dropped back down hard, forcing cries of pleasure out of them both.

“St-Stop worrying and _fuck me!_ ” Simon growled.

Well, if Markus had any composure left, that broke it like a hammer against glass. He tightened his grasp on Simon’s hips and started pounding into him at full force, Simon stifling a scream by biting his neck so hard the skin receded.

Simon lost all capacity for rational thought, only able to focus on the feeling of Markus drilling into him relentlessly and hitting his sweet spot with almost perfect accuracy, the bruising hold on his hips, Markus grunting and panting hard against his ear, Markus, Markus, _Markus._ He bit down even harder, the plastic of Markus’ neck denting and threatening to crack under the force.

Markus moved one of his hands to pull Simon’s hair, tearing another muffled sound from him. He yanked Simon’s head up and pulled him into another kiss -- though it was hardly a kiss by this point, all tongue and teeth and heavy breathing into each other’s mouths.

One of Simon’s hands came up to pull Markus’ hand out of his hair and open a connection. Thoughts and feelings rushed through the connection until neither one of them could tell who had the thought in the first place.

_So good. So good, so much. Please. Harder. Faster. Tighter. More. Not enough, not enough, never enough, need more. Need more, need, need, want, need more, yes, yes, yes, perfect, so perfect. So good. Need more. Want more. Want you. Right there. Right there, don’t stop, don’t stop. See yourself. So perfect, so wonderful, need more. I’m so lucky. Don’t stop. Give more. Please don’t stop. Too much, not enough, more, more, don’t stop, don’t stop, close, getting close. Yes, yes, more, oh god, more, more, more--_

Markus started to fall out of rhythm, his breathing getting heavier until every breath came out as a moan.

“Simon--! I’m gon-gonna cum, f-fuck, I’m right there, Si, pleaseletmecum!”

“In-I-Inside, oh god-- _uuhf--_ Cum in me, fuckin’ cum inside me, shit-- _Ahh--!_ ”

Markus cut him off by biting him hard on the juncture between his neck and shoulder, suppressing the scream that tore itself out of his throat as his second orgasm washed over him. He rode out his climax with hard, shallow thrusts and screwed his eyes shut, physically unable to focus enough to keep them open. Warnings about his system overheating filled his mind palace, but he just couldn’t find it in himself to care.

The feeling of Markus cumming inside of him for the second time, his teeth sinking into his neck, would have been enough to send Simon over the edge on its own, but the secondhand pleasure flowing through their connection amplified it beyond the point that Simon’s system could comprehend. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and he released a low, loud moan as he came untouched, synthetic cum streaking his and Markus’ clothes. All his joints locked up for a moment, and it was honestly a miracle that he didn’t go into forced standby from the sheer intensity of it all.

Both of them slowly came down from their highs, their bodies stilling. They sat for a while, catching their breath. Markus pulled his softening cock out of Simon’s ass, the pale man trembling as Markus’ release leaked out of him. On impulse, Markus brought a hand down to Simon’s hole and pressed two of his fingers inside. Simon whined and shook again.

“T-Too much…” he protested weakly. Markus brought his other hand up to run his fingers through Simon’s hair soothingly. He pulled his fingers out of Simon with an obscene noise, bringing a generous amount of liquid with them.

Markus lifted his hand up toward his shirt, about to wipe his hand off, when Simon grabbed his wrist. Confused, Markus let him move his hand up to his mouth and lick his fingers clean. He let out a tired moan around Markus’ fingers and, well. To say Markus found the sight erotic would be an understatement.

“Fuck, Simon, we’re done. Don’t rile me up again, I don’t think you’d last another round,” Markus joked.

Simon popped Markus’ fingers out of his mouth with a dazed smile on his face.

“Hey, if sex with you is what kills me, I’d be actively happy to die.”

“You horny bastard.”

“Pot, meet kettle.”

Markus couldn’t help but giggle a bit. He sighed fondly and pulled Simon into a hug, still carding his fingers through his hair.

“Was that good?” Markus asked.

“Are you kidding me? I don’t think I can move right now.”

“Any chance you’ll be able to walk to Jericho?”

“Don't think so.”

“Are you serious, or do you just want me to carry you? Because I’d be glad to carry you no matter how functional your legs are.”

Simon was quiet for a second while he ran a diagnostic. When he came back to reality, he let out a disbelieving laugh.

“What?”

“I can’t move my legs, _and_ you bit me hard enough to dent my chassis. How am I going to explain that to the others?”

“Don’t forget you did the same thing to me, first! Shit, we’re _covered_ in marks. We’re so fucked,” Markus realised, joining Simon in baffled laughter.

“Covered in marks and, more importantly, covered in suspicious white liquid.” Simon indicated at their clothing, Simon’s cum drying rapidly on their shirts.

“Yeeeah…we probably shouldn’t have had sex with clothes on,” Markus conceded.

“I mean, you can’t say we didn’t try. Speaking of which, I have no idea where my pants are,” Simon said, pushing himself off of Markus to look for his discarded clothing.

Markus pulled off his dirtied sweatshirt and pulled his pants and underwear back on, then his shoes. Simon grabbed his pants and shoes, then paused.

“Uh…could you help me put my clothes back on?” Simon asked, eyes torn between looking at Markus and looking at the floor, his face tinting blue.

“So having sex with me doesn’t embarrass you but asking me to help you with your clothes does? Got it,” Markus sassed, shuffling over to help Simon.

“Well, putting on my own clothes is something I should be able to do alone,” Simon reasoned.

“Good point.”

Once Simon was clothed properly, Markus helped him up to his feet. True to his word, he couldn’t keep himself on his feet, instead leaning on the wall for support and trying to stop his knees from wobbling so intensely.

“Hang on a minute, Simon.”

Markus pulled Simon’s jacket off and shrugged it on. It was a little smaller on him than on Simon, but he couldn’t exactly go back to Jericho without a shirt on. He zipped the coat up and noticed the befuddled look on Simon’s face.

“Turn your shirt inside out. It’s not foolproof, but it’s all we can do, really.”

Simon’s face lit up with understanding and he pulled his shirt off.

“Jesus christ, you have marks _everywhere,_ ” Markus sighed, observing the dark blue marks that littered his lover's torso.

“And who’s to blame for that?”

“Shut up, you like it.”

“Markus!”

“Okay! I’m sorry.”

“That’s better.”

Simon pulled his inverted shirt over his head carefully, then pushed off the wall. He almost immediately started to collapse, but Markus caught him and lifted him bridal style. Simon looked away, his face flushing. Markus smiled in adoration.

“You’re really cute, you know that?”

Simon couldn’t decide whether to be more embarrassed by the praise or the squeak he made. Markus only chuckled and kissed his forehead, where his LED used to be. After a few moments of focusing, he was able to calculate a route to Jericho and stepped out of the storage container, Simon alive and well in his arms.

***

Everyone was beyond relieved to see them return safe. Some of the older members of Jericho hugged Simon, others asked him how he’d been wounded in the first place or even made it out of there. Simon was equally happy to see his people were still okay, and explained things as best as he could (sparing the details for obvious reasons).

While the two of them sat in Lucy’s room, waiting for more intensive repairs and fresh clothes, North and Josh approached them.

“Hi,” Simon greeted.

Josh and North exchanged glances. They couldn’t see North’s, but Josh’s LED was flashing yellow. It was pretty obvious they were wirelessly communicating. Their eyes flitted between each person in the room before Josh sighed and turned towards Simon.

“You guys aren’t exactly subtle. I know it was a stressful situation and everything, but could you seriously not wait until we knew you were alive before going at each other?”

Simon looked away guiltily and his face turned blue. He fought the urge to hold Markus’ hand for comfort.

“Well? What’s your excuse?” North chided.

Markus put his arm around Simon and looked up at North.

“We got chased by the police. Simon got us out of a tight situation, and we got…distracted. That’s all. We only would’ve been half an hour faster if we didn’t get sidetracked.”

North folded her arms and shot them an icy glare. “Sure, the kind of distraction that leaves both of you with neck bruises and casing damage."

“The kind of distraction that involved me almost dying! I’m sorry we did what we did, but I’d greatly appreciate some repairs right about now,” Simon declared, desperate to change the subject.

Josh held out a small pile of clothing, depositing it into Simon’s lap.

“Get dressed and get Lucy’s help. Then join us in the captain’s quarters. I had an idea I want to share.”

Josh turned on his heel and left. North moved to follow him, but turned around at the door.

“By the way, Simon.”

“Huh?”

North’s LED flashed yellow as she spoke to Simon. His eyes widened and his face turned blue. And with that, she left before Simon could reply.

Simon stared out the door after her, speechless. Then stepped on Markus’ foot. It didn’t hurt, but it did earn him a look of amused confusion.

“What was that for?”

“You know what you did.”

Markus snorted and placed a gentle kiss to the top of Simon’s head.

Somehow, things had turned out okay. It would probably be a little awkward for a while, and of course they had bigger things to focus on for now, but the tension between them had dissipated, turned into something else.

Markus pulled one of Simon’s hands away from his face. They interfaced again, and they felt each other’s respect, adoration, love for each other. Thoughts and words they’d kept to themselves for what felt like ages now transferring through their connection, blurring together until neither one could tell where their thoughts ended and the other’s began. One thought in particular crossed through over and over again.

_“I love you. Wherever you go, and whatever happens, I’ll be by your side.”_

Yes, everything was going to be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thats all folks ;(
> 
> i sorta want to do a lil epilogue oneshot or something but this is where it ends for now, i need a break from this shit theres only so much my lil gay heart can take gndfgnsdkngw
> 
> until next time all you sexy bitches [whips and jumps off a balcony]


End file.
